Forum

Best of...
Postmortem...
Favorites...

Whatever. Strangely, no one else has made a thread of this sort yet so I guess I will.
Any anime aired at least in part during 2011 can be considered, TV, OVA/ONA, Movies (well, maybe we could be flexible on movies that came out in 2010 but were barely seen).
Maybe you can get some ideas from these season threads:
Winter 2011 Season - Postmortem - Spring Season 2011: final episodes - postmortem - Summer Season Thread 2011 - Fall Season Thread 2011

I've altered some categories from Hoshi's survey from last year as suggested categories you might want to give responses to. Further alter them or add categories of your own. I for one won't be tallying these up...

FAVORITE ANIME OF THE YEAR
FAVORITE COMEDY
FAVORITE ROMANCE
FAVORITE ACTION-ADVENTURE
FAVORITE DRAMA
FAVORITE THRILLER / MYSTERY
FAVORITE MAGICAL / FANTASY
BEST LOOKING ANIME
FAVORITE MUSICAL MOMENTS
FAVORITE HERO
FAVORITE VILLAIN
FAVORITE BISHOUJO
FAVORITE BISHOUNEN
FAVORITE COUPLE
FAVORITE GROUP
FAVORITE PARTNERS
...make your own category

I'll Start with (and you could do this category as you like) a Top Ten of...

FAVORITE ANIME OF THE YEAR:

#10 Mawaru Penguindrum.
An overload of symbolism, superb art design and weirdness. The symbolism and metaphors go overboard and often confuse the story, especially at the end, but it's a shaw that sticks with you.

#9 Anohana / Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai (We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day)
It's a sweet show with good characters but doesn't really get too overly dramatic, a considering the heavy theme. Still, the end is a quality tearjerker.

#8 Hanasaku Iroha
This is simply a slice of life show done very well. Great cast, good comedy, and some rather beautiful background art.

#7 Usagi Drop (Bunny Drop)
Another Slice of Life show, but with more adorable humor. Sort of a a more serious version Yotsuba&!.

#6 Natsume Yuujinchou San (Natsume's Book of Friends 3)
Manages to be very relaxing show with some supremely sweet momemnts, but the monster encounters can still occasionally be tense and rather creepy.

#5 Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san (You're Being Summoned, Azazel-san)
This one isn't sweet, it isn't beautiful, it isn't wistful or thoughtful in any way. It is ugly, obscene, profane, blunt and very often it is absolutely hilarious.

#4 Working'!! aka Wagnaria season 2
This is simply a great comedy- basically an anime sitcom set at a restaurant. It doesn't reslve anything from the first season, but resolution can ruin sitcoms, so I find it very appropriate. I also quite enjoyed the additions of the season.

#3 Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Yeah, I predict this will be #1 on many lists but it was a little too dire for my tastes and while the ideas and art were fantastic and fascinating it cut into the charm of the story slightly. Still... super-cute cute Hidamari Sketch-type character designs mixed with strange, vibrant, and daring background art and a nicely done dark plot, and while I made that slight complaint about the ideas and art distracting from the plot, it didn't ruin it at all, it was still a great story at its core.

#2 Kimi Ni Todoke 2
One of the best romantic anime I've ever seen, often hilarious and always very sweet. slow? sometimes, but go ahead and marathon it, that mostly fixes that issue and shows you a wonderfully cohesive story that may not be completely finished (the source material is still continuing) but does end the best way possible for such a series in this situation. If continuations aren't forthcoming it will just be a slight shame, not a complete let-down.

#1 Nichijou / My Ordinary Life
The show starts off a little slow and there are bits that don't work so well in the first half, but there are scenes throughout that had me in tears from laughing so hard. It then gets progressively better as it moves through its 24 episodes to a point where there are barely any moments that won't have you laughing. I recommend the show to anybody who likes to laugh.

Honorable mentions: (the other shows I rated at least "very good")
Kamisama No Memo-cho/ Heaven's Memo Pad - Honto ni Atta! Reibai-Sensei - Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth - Tono to Issho: Gantai no Yabō (I liked this 2nd season mor than the first) - Softenni - Moshidora

FAVORITE COMEDY
Nichijou
duh

FAVORITE ROMANCE
Kimi Ni Todoke 2
Double duh

FAVORITE ACTION-ADVENTURE / SCIENCE FICTION
Steins;Gate
See, I made those categories up top and even I'm altering them already. This was a quality Sci-Fi Show, barely beats out the superhero charm of Tiger and Bunny and fabulousness of Star Driver.

FAVORITE DRAMA
Anohana
Yeah, I rated Usagi Drop and Hanasaku Iroha higher above, but I think this was the purer "drama," and really all three could be interchangeable on the list.

FAVORITE THRILLER/ MYSTERY
Kamisama No Memo-cho
I really liked this one, it was a nice modern take on modern mysteries IMHO. The lead male was a favorite of mine.

FAVORITE MAGICAL / FANTASY
Puella Magi Madoka Magica

BEST LOOKING ANIME
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
This is a category I added because I thought this really was a banner year for art direction in many ways, characters, design, direction. Shows looked awesome in many ways. But this is one were I have to give it to the expected one (well- Mawaru Penguindrum makes a decent case too). But Shinbo and SHAFT, I think this pair is the big reason other studios are being more adventurous in their designs lately.

FAVORITE MUSICAL MOMENTS
...I'm going to think on this longer and maybe edit in favorite songs and soundtrack later.

FAVORITE HERO
Ayumu Aikawa - Kore wa Zombie Desu ka / Is This a Zombie?

Almost went with Tiger, or Takuto Tsunashi, or Dreameater Merry, but I'm a comedy guy and I gotta say Ayumu kicked some serious but, in a frilly dress no less.

FAVORITE VILLAIN
Kyubey - Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Maybe not technically a "villain" but he seemed like it and was really the most menacing force in a show this year,

FAVORITE BISHOUJO
Erio Touwa - Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
There were better cute characters in better shows but I gotta say Erio is the down-right cutest and wins my moe award from new shows. Inami from Working would be my choice normally, but I chose her in Hoshi's survey last year.

FAVORITE BISHOUNEN
Natsume Takashi - Natsume Yūjin-Chō San
Don't really care about this one and wonder if he technically qualifies, but I gotta figure the lady fans gotta love the femininely designed Natsume.

FAVORITE COUPLE
Sawako & Shouta - Kimi ni Todoke 2
I didn't pick these two in Hoshi's survey last year, so they get the honor this year.

FAVORITE GROUP
Sket Dan - Sket Dance
Don't have much to say but I like this threesome more as I continue the show.

FAVORITE PARTNERS
Kotetsu and Barnaby - Tiger & Bunny
Only seems natural.

Only anime released this year counts? Well then...

ALL CATEGORIES (all of them): Mazinkaiser SKL

I laughed, I cried (not really), I pumped my fist and I wondered if those two guys were gay or if those tight leather pants were just a fashion statement. Truly, this short but sweet OVA had it all.

Also, it was the only show released this year that I've seen yet Mr. Green

You had me worried, I thought I really had spaced out and wrote "Any anime released at least in part during this year" instead of "Any anime aired at least in part during 2011" ... which it does...

Confused

Or are you referring to domestic releases?
To be more specific, anime aired in Japan during 2011.

Spastic Minnow wrote:

To be more specific, anime aired in Japan during 2011.

Relax, I was just joking around. That's what I meant too and the only show that I saw this year that fits happens to be Mazinkaiser SKL. To be fair, even if it wasn't I still would've nominated it for a lot of categories Wink

Hrm...

Favourite of the year: Chihayafuru. I actually hate waiting a week to see what happens next, and I really care about all the characters. Although I couldn't help thinking that if it was a shonen series: spoiler[they would've lost the tournament in the finals so that they had to train another year for it Laughing

] I really want Chihaya, Taichi and Arata to have a happy ending

Mystery of the year: Kami-sama no Memochou. As a pure mystery series, I like this better than Un-Go and Gosick. It's a bit slow to start off, but it does draw you in, especially after spoiler[Ayaka commits suicide]

Period piece of the year: Ikoku Meiro no Croisee. I love this show. It's just so cute and adorable and makes you feel better if you're having a bad day, and the animation is superb. Runner up: Gosick.

Trainwreck of the year: Blood-C. Makes the Endless Eight look tame in comparison. I wonder what the movie will be like...

Noitamina of the year: Usagi Drop. Takes everything of the manga that's awesome and wraps it up in an adorable package, and stops at the perfect place too.

How did I miss this: AnoHana. This somehow slipped under my radar, but given the almost universal praise it's been receiving, I do intend to check it out. Also, Hourou Musuko and Madoka Magica.

Show I never thought I'd like: Tiger and Bunny. I'm not into superheroes, or giant robots, but the bromance and story won me over. Can't wait for the DVDs.

Slice of life of the year: Hanasaku Iroha. Although some episodes were a little weird, I do consider this show one of my favourites from this year.

Romance of the year: Kimi ni Todoke 2. It makes me squee, and it's such a refreshing change of pace from most high school romance series.

Return of a familiar friend: Natsume Yuujinchou 3. It does what it's always done, and does it extremely well. I can't think of many other series that manage to be creepy and heartwarming at the same time.

Fantasy/action: Guilty Crown. Yes, it's tropey as hell, but it has fun with itself. That, and GHQ is the main gay bar in Edinburgh so it makes me giggle every time I hear that they're plotting something to do with GHQ xD

Ongoing shonen: Bakuman. It's a fun story, and although the romance can be a little annoying, the insight into how manga is made is really fun. Runner up: Sket Dance.

Maximum ridiculosity award: Uta no Prince-sama. The comments on Niconico made it far more fun that it otherwise would've been.

Could've been so much more: Tied between No 6 and C. C had an interesting concept and I think they could've done a lot more with it if they'd had more episodes, as could No 6, although the source material may be to blame for that.

I haven't watched enough anime this past year to truly participate in this thread, but at the very least it has alerted me to Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san and My Ordinary Life. Both of which I will now check out.

Haven't seen enough many movies or OVAs this year, so I'll just keep to television series.

BEST ANIME OF THE YEAR: TV SERIES

Honourable Mention #1:

Kamisama Dolls

For being so funny and having such a crazy cast of lovable psychos. But underneath it all was a pretty good and surprisingly dark story. Shame it will probably never get a second season.

Honourable Mention #2:

Wandering Son

The characters were too mature for their ages but I really enjoyed this low-key title. Never have I seen such a respectful and mature take on gender and sexual identity as with this series. And never have I met such a passive-aggressive bitch before in Anime; Saori was always great to watch.

#10:

Tiger & Bunny

I never got the bug as much as many people, but I still enjoyed this. My main problem was that the lampooning of the theme of the dangers of corporatising of superheroes fell flat when real companies had sponsorship deals with the show, such as Pepsi.

#9:

Natsume Yuujinchou San

Not as good as the previous two seasons, but perhaps only because it is getting a little too familiar by now. The writing quality hasn't really dropped at all, but it needs to mix things up a bit.

#8:

Moshidora

Who would have ever thought the premise would work this well? I sure didn't. Well, I'm happy to have been wrong about this show.

#7:

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée

Yune is too cute. I didn't like how forced the drama was in the final few episodes, but it had a strong run up till then. Great cast of characters, great attention to detail about late-nineteenth-century Paris.

#6:

Chihayafuru (first half of the season)

This should have been bad. This should have been crap. What's amazing is not that it isn't bad, but that the show is so very, very good. With each episode new aspects to karuta are unveiled to the audience, but the real drivers are the characters. They're superb.

#5:

Bakuman (second half of season one and first half of season two)

The one big albatross around the show's neck - the promise between Moritaka and Miho - will never go away. However, the fact that the show is ranked this highly should tell you just how awesome the writing is to lift it this high.

#4:

Fate/ZERO (part 1)

Incredible dialogue, interesting characters and some wickedly-cool battles, this show rocks.

#3:

Hyouge Mono

Almost nobody watched this, which is a shame since it is so incredibly flawless. Yeah, it will probably be remembered as "the one with the hilarious faces", but this is so much more. The writing is impeccable.

#2:

Usagi Drop

The ending to the Manga gets a lot of attention, so it is easy to forget that this is an amazing story about parenting and responsibility. This adaptation was everything I was hoping for.

#1:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

No other title came close.

I don't want to break things down by genre, and I won't do a Worst Anime list. I'll do one last thing though . . .

MOST DISAPPOINTING ANIME TREND OF THE YEAR

The Demise of noitaminA:

From Fractale in Winter, [C]: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control in Spring, No.6 in Summer and Guilty Crown in Autumn, this was not a good year for noitaminA. All four had major problems, though some were far worse than others. As for the other disappointment, UN-GO, it started off shaky and got a bit better, but was still pretty average by the end. I do think it was far better than the first four I named however.

That leaves just three of eight shows that I can honestly say were pretty good; Wandering Son, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai, and of course Usagi Drop. Not too bad a strike rate, especially given Sturgeon's Law. That said, it is clear to me that the myth of noitaminA being the last bastion of great and unusual Anime has been shattered. The terrible ratings during the Winter block hints that viewers are no longer beholden to the programming block as they once was.

2012 will be an important year for the block. Ignoring the three-episode-long bathhouse show - Thermae Romae I believe - the Winter season will have the ongoing Guilty Crown (which I dropped) and Black Rock Shooter. I just have a really bad feeling about this, because all of a sudden the block looks to be commercial. As in, it sold out to popular demand. It will be fascinating to see if Winter will bring further discontent amongst viewers or if selling out will bring in high ratings. I don't want the block to do badly, but I also don't want it to be rewarded for abandoning its mission statement and putting on crap.

Favorite Anime of the Year
This is tough because I saw a lot of great shows this year, but I'm going with Nichijou. I have never laughed so hard in my life while watching this every week, but Nichijou had me rolling on the floor every time. Best part is that it got better and better with each episode. I'd say I'm disappointed Bandai won't be releasing it, but I'm not since I hated that they got it in the first place. I'll either import the Taiwan or Australian versions, so it's no skin off my back.

From this point I'll be making up category for every show I watched since there's only 16.

MOST ABSURD PREMISE: Ben-to
High schoolers duking it out like an MMA match for half priced lunches. It doesn't get much crazier than that, but Ben-to managed to take that premise and make a really good show.

MOST LIKE THE TOWER OF TERROR: Haganai
It went up and up and up in the first few episodes, but it dropped like a rock and ultimately it was a disappointment, just like the real Tower of Terror. It was so good in the first few episodes, but by the time I was at the end I was struggling to even care about it.

MOST BADASS DUO: Ken and Ryo from Mazinkaiser SKL
I didn't like the show that much, but those two were pretty f-cking awesome. I just love how they would switch in the middle of the fight and not lose a beat in the ass-kickery department. I also liked how even though they were hot-headed GARly men, they got along really well with each other and with Yuki.

BIGGEST UNDERACHIEVER: Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
Let me say this first: I really liked the movie, but it wasn't as good as I thought, or not as good as I wanted it to be, at least. I didn't like Place Promised in our Early Days, but I really liked Voices of a Distant Star and LOVED 5 cm/s, and so I thought I'd roll and get Yahtzee, but ended up with a Small Straight.

BIGGEST LET DOWN: Blue Exorcist
Much like Haganai it started it out good, but ended poorly. Unlike Haganai, which started out as an 8/10, but ended as 6/10, Blue Exorcist started out as a 9/10, but ended up as a 6/10, so the quality drop between beginning to end was much greater. Seriously, this was amazing right up until people said they had run out of a manga material, and it just took a nosedive into the ocean, never to be found again. I'm annoyed just thinking about it.

MOST LIKE A ROLLER COASTER: Hanasaku Iroha
I was very up and down with this show. It started out good, lost it's way, found it again, and then lulled for a bit only to ascend one more time, leaving me very satisfied by the time it was over. Great show overall, but several rough patches.

MOST ADORABLE: Yuru Yuri
Those girls and their semi-yuri relationships were so cute. It was only an alright show, but I liked the characters and the atmosphere it set up.

MOST UNDER VIEWED: Moshidora
That whacky scheduled induced by the tsunami (totally understandable) gave this show a bad draw. It aired daily about a month after it was supposed to and I think people just forgot it existed, and that sucks because this was a fantastic show. I don't like speaking about it in the same breathe as the tsunami, because that was awful and I don't won't to sound like I'm blaming it's lack of air on it, but that's what happened. It was lost by the wayside because of a horrific natural disaster.

THAT WAS...NICE: Houkago no Pleiades
I didn't know what to give this. I mean, I don't regret watching it, but...um...there you go. Nice little show by Gainax for Subaru, which also happens to be the leads name, which was amusing. Also, the staffs they rode sounded like cars, and that was a very Gainax-y thing I loved.

MOST WTF-INDUCING: Dororon Enma-kun
Now that I've seen more Ga Nagai stuff I'm not one bit surprised by how crazy it was, but at the time I was taken aback at how nuts it was. All the sexual innuendo and whacky art style just threw me out of my comfort zone, but I really liked the show by the end of it because of how crazy it was.

LEAST SURPRISING RESULTS: Denpa Onna
As soon as found out this was a SHAFT show, I pretty much knew what I was getting. Weird female characters, a straight-man male lead, very nice animation and art, and a pretty good show, and that's exactly what I got. It also introduced me to Buriki's character designs, and so I have a new name to look for on staff listings.

BIGGEST PILE OF CRAP: Hen Zemi
Knowing the freaks of Hen Zemi they'd probably like being called piles of crap, but I don't care. What an awful show that I watched from beginning for absolutely no reason. Well, I guess there were reasons: I like the OVA and it was only 15 minutes. Just...why?

BIGGEST TEAR JERKER: Ano Hana
I'M STILL CRYING! I love it when I'm so wrapped up in a show that it causes me to emote dramatically. Sometimes I die from laughter, sometimes I drop my jaw at surprising twists, sometimes I yell out of excitement, and occasionally I let out a lot of tears. AnoHana brought forth rare tears, and I loved every second of that show.

MOST SHOCKING: Madoka Magica
Seriously, aside from those familiar with Urobochi and his VN work, who saw this coming? I watched it because it was SHAFT and Nanoha was pretty popular back in the day, but boy did I get more than I expected. Just an absolutely amazing show and I'm glad I got to experience it the first time around with the rest of the community, because there probably wont be another experience like it for a long time.

BIGGEST KILLER OF BRAIN CELLS: Freezing
I watched this every week and I'll probably buy it when Funimation releases it because I'm too stupid to know better. Satellizer in the white dress, though, is just...unfair. I can't resist that.

BEST CAST: Kore wa Zombie desu ka?
I love those guys so much. Every character just had something about them that made them great (Sera had two). I'm so happy it's getting a second season and I'm so glad Funimation licensed it.

FAVORITE ANIME OF THE YEAR

FAVORITE COMEDY - Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
Come on a boy is brought back to life via a silent cute necromancer who then also gets mixed up with a chainsaw weilding magical girl who is a self proclaimed genious whos huge ego offsets her common sense. But also verbelly abusive vampire ninja, zombie's power up, tea drinking doberman, most strangest demons.

MOST UNPREDICTABLE - Level E
This anime swerved so much you really could not predict what was going to happen, like the roles of characters, the plot, genral reasoning. You would be lead to belive one thing, and then later they were just screwing with you. But it is not like they pulled things out of the air, they loved to make you think back at the facts. Just the look of Lawrence from seeing the movie.

FAVORITE DRAMA - Usagi Drop
Once in a while you find a show that reminds you why you watch anime and trully conects with you. I was not a fan of the animation or character designs as soon as I started watching, I sighed that I would probably not like it

MOST CONTROVERSIAL - Astarotte's Toy
Young adult enlisted to be the start of a harem of a little girl succubis, of which he expected to have her "chu chu" him. She is around the same age as his daughter, explained that when was a young child he had sex with an adult woman spoiler[who was actually Lotte's mother, making the guy's mistress his daughter's half sister.]

MOST FAN ATTENTION - Puella Magi Madoka Magica
The theories, the fan art, the Madoka Wiki, the forum on this site, and it being mentioned in here as favourite anime.

MOST COMPLETE PACKAGE OF AWESOME - Dream Eater Merry
Might be a bit hard what I am trying to say here, but the show was just pretty awesome. The opening theme (Daydream Syndrome) has got to be one of the best this year, the main character has a personality, and Chaser John Doe who oozes cool.

MOST DISGUSTING - Maken-ki!
I watched a few episodes, I think I tried to watch it but one thing stopped me, I felt physically ill watching it, beyond really what I have had before. the music was like from some god aweful hentai, it oozed inoriginality, the MC was a lame pervert with little redeeming qualities. Female characters purely made to fit fetishes, and paraded around for their boobs and panties. I have seen Sora no Otoshimono, Ichiban Ushiro, Rosario Vampire, Kanokon, but this made me feel dirtier.

FAVORITE ANIME OF THE YEAR - Usagi Drop
It is the only one from this year that I gave a Masterpiece, I gave most of my reasons already, but I always looked forward to it. I love both the OP and ED though I tend to cry a little bit from them, I loved the character even with their flaws. I can understand why many people are so against the manga's full ending, but I don't see such a problem with it.

...make your own category

DuskyPredator wrote:

MOST UNPREDICTABLE - Level E

Oh crap, I forgot about Level E. That would have been in my Top Ten if I had remembered it. I mean, it is in my Top Ten. I rank it as #7 and put Ikoku Meiro no Croisée (and all the rest) down one rank.

Can't believe I forgot about that one, it was so hilarious.

The King of Harts wrote:

MOST BADASS DUO: Ken and Ryo from Mazinkaiser SKL
I didn't like the show that much, but those two were pretty f-cking awesome. I just love how they would switch in the middle of the fight and not lose a beat in the ass-kickery department. I also liked how even though they were hot-headed GARly men, they got along really well with each other and with Yuki.

'Take a nap, dumbass!' *POW* Twisted Evil

But good to know I wasn't the only one who watched this.

FAVORITE ANIME OF THE YEAR
Top ten? I've only seen 15 anime from this year! I'm slow, okay! You don't have to rub it in!
Anyway, with the standard caveat that Favorite ≠ Best, this has to be Shana 3. I've always had a love/hate affair with this franchise, but this season has been everything I could have hoped for. Characters are dying left and right, they're having sex (and how many times does that happen in anime?), there is the whole "The superheros have turned evil! Most uncool" vibe, Shana becomes a badass, &c. It's very much a grabbag of what a 16yo would find awesome, and the 16yo inside of me is loving it.

FAVORITE COMEDY
A Channel. For some reason, this show really clicked with me. I can't explain it.

FAVORITE ROMANCE
Shion and Rat, No.6. All I'm saying is, give BL a chance. No, actually, the romance was really weak this year. There were no good moe romances and no yuri dramas, so I went with the most emotional romance relationship I saw.

FAVORITE ACTION-ADVENTURE
Shana 3, see above.

FAVORITE DRAMA
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

FAVORITE THRILLER / MYSTERY
Steins;Gate. The oppressing atmosphere of paranoia that pervades this show is unbelievable.

FAVORITE MAGICAL / FANTASY
Mawaru PenguinDrum. Because I already used Madoka.

BEST LOOKING ANIME
Redline. Nuff said.

FAVORITE MUSICAL MOMENTS
That insert song in Mawaru PenguinDrum, whenever they do the Survival Strategy bit. I have to crank the volume all the way up for that one.

FAVORITE HERO
Enma-kun, Dororon Enma-kun: Meeramera. He saves the world by unleashing the power of love. In his pants.

FAVORITE VILLAIN
Kyubey, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Kyubey is the best representation of an alien race since I read Mote in God's Eye. What makes Kyubey so compelling that he is not evil, but his system of morals is so alien that he fully believes he has the moral high ground.

FAVORITE BISHOUJO
Okay, this will have to be a top 5 list:
5) Dogloan, No.6 (She is a girl right?)
4) Mayushii, Steins;Gate (Say banana again for me)
3) Alice, Kami-sama no Memo-chou (We could be hikikomori together!)
2) Yukiko-hime, Dororon Enma-kun: Meeramera (I have a serious thing for yuki-onna characters)
1) Saito Himea, Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi (DAT HAIR)

FAVORITE BISHOUNEN
Rukako, Steins;Gate. A miko outfit? I think I'm in love.

FAVORITE COUPLE
Run and Tooru, A Channel. She protects her with a baseball bat. That's so cute.

FAVORITE GROUP
Kiga Group, Mawaru PenguinDrum.

FAVORITE PARTNERS
Dalian & Huey, Dantalian no Shoka. The two of them play perfectly off each other.

------------------------------------------------
And now, Awards for the 15 anime of 2011 that I have seen so far:

BEST CAPTURE OF ZEITGEIST: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
BEST SCREWUP OF A GOOD IDEA: Fractale
BEST USE OF TIME TRAVEL: Steins;Gate
BEST PSEUDO YURI ANIME: A Channel: The Animation
BEST SEVENTIES REMAKE: Dororon Enma-kun: Meeramera
BEST ART EVAR: Redline
MOST LIKELY TO GET YOU ARRESTED IN CANADA: Astarotte no Omocha!
BEST WASTE OF POTENTIAL: Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
THE MASHIMA HIRO AWARD FOR BEST PLAGIARISM: Hidan no Aria
BEST NOT AS GOOD AS UTENA AWARD: Mawaru PenguinDrum
BEST WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS SHOW: Kami-sama no Memo-chou
BEST GAY DUO: No.6
BEST USE OF GRADIENTS: Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi
BEST SETTING: Dantalian no Shoka
BEST USE OF LOLI HEROINES: Shakugan no Shana III

Haven't seen a whole lot of anime this year, so let's throw out some categories and see where this takes us.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER
Rider, Fate/Zero. Strong enough of a presence to carry the show all by himself. His relationship with Waver just makes things even better.

FAVORITE OP
Cras numquam scire, Dantalian no Shoka. So pretty.
Both Penguindrum OPs came pretty close, though.

FAVORITE ED
Tie: Fantasy, Un-Go; Magia, Madoka Magica. The former is incredibly catchy, the latter is a gut punch. Ton of other deserving candidates as well, though.

MOST UNDERLOOKED
Un-Go. It's been dismissed by a surprising number of people, but to me and a handful of others it remains one of the most complex and interesting shows of the Fall season.

MOST SURPRISINGLY EXCELLENT
Ben-to. Did absolutely nothing original, but was obviously made by people who cared about what they were doing, and were having a lot of fun doing it. Pretty much the perfect marriage of animators and source material.

BEST ANIMATION, WITHOUT A DOUBT
Redline. Absolutely brilliant.

FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK
Mawaru Penguindrum. Runner-ups include Madoka Magica, Un-Go, Dantalian no Shoka, Ben-to...yeah, choosing for this category was hard.

FAVORITE SHOW I HAVEN'T COMPLETED YET
Steins;Gate. We'll see what I think of it when it's over! Pretty good so far, though.

SHOW I SHOULD REALLY GET AROUND TO WATCHING
Wandering Son. Heard great things about it.

SECOND FAVORITE ANIME OF 2011
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. One of those one-in-a-million creative firestorms that occur every decade or so.

FAVORITE ANIME OF 2011
Mawaru Penguindrum. Ikuhara made us wait ten years. He didn't give us what we waited for--he gave us what we didn't even know we wanted. Not for everyone, but everyone deserves to try it, just to see if it's for them. If it is, you're in for one hell of a ride.

2011 was one of the best years of anime in ages, really![/b]

Melanchthon wrote:

FAVORITE ANIME OF THE YEAR
Top ten? I've only seen 15 anime from this year! I'm slow, okay! You don't have to rub it in!

15 animes this year? Slow???

I've only watched ONE show as it was airing, the rest were just old stuff Razz

So, my list would be like this:

Best Drama/Comedy/Shonen/Action/Animation of the year: Fate/Zero (Season 1)

It also got my Worst Drama/Slow Action/Talkative Awards of the year Razz

All in all, it was a fine show, but nothing great.

In retrospective, I regret not watching animes like Madoka and Usagi Drop, but I'll get to them in due time...

I don't think I really have answers for most of the survey topics. I can say my favourites though!

I actually did watch more of 2011's anime than I do most years but two series easily stand on top of the rest, those being the not all that original options of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Usagi Drop. These are the two titles that I plan to buy on DVD when they come out (assuming Usagi Drop gets licensed, something I am certain enough about).

Other series that I watched in entirety were:

AnoHana - this one was good but I wouldn't personally call it great. I think it needed to do more in the middle, when some plots sort of got stuck spinning their wheels, and I honestly don't really remember the last episode that much, except that I did cry.

Deadman Wonderland - this could have been a contender for the top slot if the story hadn't started to completely fall apart mid-series. I think I might watch a second season if it aired but I don't know.

X-Men - this show actually had a lot of good in it. The character designs were great (once Emma got out of her starting outfit which made her look oddly matronly to me). And it stirred up nostalgia for the old animated show, which is a plus. But it wasn't anything spectacular, especially when compared to the First Class anime, and it also featured one of the most annoying characters I've come across in anime, Hisako (I hope her characterization in the comic is less stereotypical Japanese schoolgirl who saves the world when the more experienced members of the team can't).

There were a few others I watched part of but didn't get much beyond the first episode for most. I have to admit, I've become very picky when it comes to what I watch and I generally need to be grabbed by something in the first episode in order to keep watching.

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Anime Superlatives 2011.

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Anime Superlatives 2011.