Top Anime of 2012

Well the new year of shows are upon on us and thus it's time for a recap of our top picks for last year!

Top 5 picks from our writers Djr7 and Ouroboros

Sword Art Online (Summer 2012)

Sword Art's first arc was my personal favorite. What really got me into Sword Art was how well they portrayed the emotions of being trapped within a game, where death in the game means death in real life. The   emotions portraying how the players come to deal with living inside a game is wonderfully written giving a gloomy look on many childhood dreams of living in a game. Reflecting on the terror of how the player's real bodies are slowly weakening is well delivered as Kirito is able to find some happiness among the deaths of players around him. If you've ever played an MMO or other RPG you will definitely enjoy this show. - Djr7

Nisemonogatari (Winter 2011/12)

Bakemonogatari was an amazing show, with Nisemonogatari being the sequel, it was a theme of "fakes". While I can't say this sequel surpasses its predecessor, it was an enjoyable experience that continued off the work of Bakemonogatari. The show follows closely around Araragi's sisters and touches on the subject of different fetishes. In a way the show is more of a "I-do-what-I-want" sequel that somehow mixes extremely ridiculous events with plot driven serious characters.  -Djr7

One of the few memorable shows of 2012 and definitely one of the ones that I enjoyed the most of that year. Similar to what Djr7 said: the show doesn't surpass Bakemonogatari but it keeps up with how good the original was. Nisemonogatari followed through with the bizarre humor that Bakemonogatari had and in some cases went past it as well, I’m sure everyone remembers the “toothbrush scene.” The show also develops some of the characters pretty well, such as Shinobu, a mysterious character in the original that ended up being quite the character in the second. The characters of Nisemonogatari, both old and new, played a large role in making this show one of the more memorable ones of 2012. -Ouros

Fate Zero part 2 (Spring 2012)

I've never been a huge Fate fan, but the show was pretty awesome, hosting a great many of conflicts that ultimately lead to the beginning of Fate Stay Night. The action was impressive as the quality was bar none. Overall if you enjoyed Fate Stay Night, this show easily surpasses it in my mind. - Djr7

Sakamichi no Apollon (Spring 2012)

I picked up this show after it aired, and I’m glad that my friend convinced me to watch it. The show was a really good watch for many reasons. The characters of Sakamichi no Apollon are one the main reasons that I put this in my top. All of the main characters had a lot of depth to them which allowed the show to be the drama that it is. It also has everything that makes a good drama, well developed characters, an engaging plot that draws in the viewers, and even multiple themes that viewers can relate to. And finally, the jazz music is like the icing on the cake to the well made drama. -Ouros

Guilty Crown (Winter 2011/2012)

Guilty Crown. Best show. Not really. But in all seriousness, no other shows that come up to mind that is worth mentioning... maybe Jormungand just because Koko Hekmatyar is so damn cool. Besides that, there were no other shows that really “stuck” to me to be put in my top 3. -Ouros

Most Disappointing

Guilty Crown had so much hype and was backed with its gorgeous visuals from its large budget. Guilty Crown presented itself as a show similar to Code Geass, it even replicated some similar themes towards CG. Unfortunately visuals were the only decent thing about it, as it became a sad attempt to portray a serious atmosphere with poor characters. I felt as if the show itself was trolling me, the only good character was a minor antagonist villain who carefully became the only one with an interesting personality as he tried to save the series and give some importance and interesting twists. Guilty Crown was a show that tried too hard and stumbled over its poor characters.

-The writing was awful, the writers tried to do everything but ended up accomplishing nothing. Too many plot holes in the show due to the fact that the show wanted to “be everything” at the same time. The characters were just as bad, they were one dimensional (lacking depth) and as many others said, they would change personalities from episode to episode. And they killed the best girl, Hare! Aside from that, the show looked great, and there was good music, but in the end.. the show was bullshit. -Ouros

Most Surprising

A quick glance at High School DxD and you could quickly dismiss it as being an over the top ecchi filled silly adventure about a boy joining a group of vampires and supernatural events with plenty of bare skin. Surprisingly I found myself continuing to watch DxD as the characters were well developed deep below their appearance and silly first impressions. The plot was well written and the characters are interesting enough to look past the ridiculous nudity. I recommend taking a look at this show if you passed on it.

Additionally this is the list of shows we both watched from last year

Mirai Nikki (WInter 2011/12)

Haiyore Nyaruka San (Spring 2012)

[K] (Fall 2012)

Sankarea (Spring 2012)

Another (Winter 2011/12)

Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka of the dead (Spring 2012)

High School DxD (Winter 2011/12)

Tasogare Otome X Amnesia (Spring 2012)

Guilty Crown (?)

Medaka Box (Spring 2012)

Aquarion Evol (Winter 2011/12)

BRS (Winter 2011/12)

Natsuiro Kiseki (Spring 2012)

Hyouka (Spring 2012)

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate (Summer 2012)

Symphogear (Winter 2011/12)

Jormungand (Spring 2012)

Chuunibyou demo (Fall 2012)

Brave 10 (Winter 2011/12)

Zetman (Spring 2012)

Moretsu Pirates (Winter 2011/12)

Clan Rain's Anime Picks of 2011

Originally I wanted to expand this further for more genres but due to wanting to include all the authors we will stay limited for this year. We are still a bit too unorganized lately, hopefully we can have more categories for the future. Hopefully this blog will still be alive a few years down the road to have a large archive of these.

So it will be very limited this year, it probably won't be hard to guess mine though.  So I guess I'll start with my top anime of the year!

Pearz' anime pick for 2011

Not hard to guess my favourite anime this year was Madoka Magica. It was the first time I had to give a score greater then 10. Being strongly routed on everything logical, a to have an impossible 11/10 rating shows how much I liked it. It has also spurred me to have my first anime related purchase which is probably a slippery slope as now I want more. By far the best anime this year and probably be one of my top recommended for quite some time. Funny how I dropped this anime originally only to pick it back up when everyone was saying how awesome it was.

I guess Homura's plight was just to powerful, combined with a bit of understanding on how to make the world "work" in a more logical sense was what really captivated me. It is rare that time travel plots are done well as most people don't understand it well enough to write a story about it. I was just satisfied to see it done well, much better then Stiens;Gate. It has been a while since I was so mesmerized by an anime, definitely the top pick of 2011 for me.


Bern's anime picks


Sleeper of the year: Mashiro Iro Symphony

2011 was a really great year for anime. There were some that defied expectations, some that severely dissappointed, and some that float by. Mashiro Iro Symphony is one I feel that falls into that final category. Once you see the label "eroge adaption," you sort of know what to expect. After having seen Hoshizora the previous season, you think it'll be just the same sort of feel to it. I went in watching with these expectations.


However, it turned out very differently from Hoshizora. The main character was pretty suave, and the girls were quite good as well. It also gets credit for not picking the main girl; it's not revolutionizing by any means, but it's not the norm. Outside of that bathtub scene with Sena, I felt that everything proceeded quite smoothly. The pacing was really mellow in the beginning, but speeds up a bit when it gets dramatic. Ultimately, it made me care about the characters were feeling, especially with Sana.


I think Mashiphony did as well as any eroge adaption could really hope for. Not only did it come out pleasing, I think they did what they set out to do: sell more copies of the game. From the anime, we saw that Sena wasn't just a typical tsundere, but an observant and a caring friend. Well, if you want to see her get a copy of the game! Sana on the other hand really garnered major sympathy points along the way. If you want to give her happiness, you better by the psp game! It's simple yet brilliant.


In the end, it isn't the greatest romcom ever, but I think a lot of people might overlook the show as a simple eroge adaption. In fact, it's not a bad watch at all, and I would recommend it to anyone who eats up this genre.


Best of comedy of the year: Level E

Initially, what surprised me the most was that a manga from the late '90s got the green light for an anime adaption. Because it was from over a decade ago, it was free of the moe, the fanservice, and the unfunny misunderstandings. I enjoyed Prince Baka's intricately planned trolling and laughed at Yukitaka and Kraft getting the butt end of it. Ultimately, what did it for me was that he got a taste of his own medicine as the actual plot came around. It was a very funny show with a retro feel to it.


Djr7’s Anime pick of 2011

There were only a handful of shows I enjoyed this year, and while some were better than others and were surprisingly entertaining, nothing caught my attention like Steins;Gate.


At the end of each episode I was begging for more and couldn’t wait for the next episode to come out. While Madoka was the most shockingly good show, Steins;Gate was my favorite. The way they handled the element of time was awesome, although the ending was rather disappointing, but not a complete train wreck, it was the best show in my mind overall.


I’d like to recommend some other categories.


BEST ENDING, I loved Un-Go’s ending, the entire series lead up to Kaisho’s mystery and everything came together and was made clear with a rather unsuspecting villain at the end, the best part was that nothing changed all that much between Kaisho and Shinjurou which is a good thing because their characters are defined by their differences to each other and I think it was an awesome way to end the show, but I’m still hoping for more.


MOST SUPRISINGLY GOOD SHOW - mebe change name but Madoka was realllyyy good after thinking it was some sort of loli kid magical girl show.

OkamiSans anime pick for 2011 

If you've seen my top list then you would've noticed that Steins;Gate comes in second. And it's there because it’s got everything I could ask for in an anime. It would've been my top 1 if I had seen this series before Code Geass. But Code Geass was one of the first anime series I've watched and appealed to my anti-hero side. 


Anyway, Steins;gate's got an AWESOME story revolving around the complex concept of time travel. Now it's quite daunting to make an effective story around such a concept. But this series just simplifies it, works it, and builds it upon the viewer, slowly making things more complex but still keeping it easy for us to understand. Time travel is not the only main focus of the story, it’s about ordinary people (they are generally normal, right?) and how they deal with such power, and responsibility. Other works out there revolve around the main character and the storyline is set in stone. Then the other pieces (i.e.: characters, sets, etc.) work around to make that main character or storyline work out. But not in Steins;gate, here each character has a mind of their own, a goal to contribute and a twist to form leaving the story for better or worse. 


In the end, Steins;gate has got a flawless story with lovable and understandable characters, beautiful art and designs, and most of all, a perfectly written storyline. It’s a series that will keep you craving for more but dreading for what will happen next. The series is a perfectly orchestrated melody and noise of emotions. I give the series a 101/10.


Aaro and Envy are too kool to join in this post T_T