Late like always (it's still January... barely!), and trimmed back in size from last year, but here it is! TV series only, except for the #1 top moment in 2012.
Top 4 moments of 2012
I could list many more, but it's either keep it to the absolute top tier, or end up with a list dozens long. They're spoiler tagged for a reason, don't read if you don't want spoilers.
1.
K-ON! Movie,
HTT's final live in their classroom with their biggest fans - and absoluetly everything from then until the credits roll.
2.
Mouretsu Pirates 17,
After the damsel in distress Jenny un-distresses herself with total badassery, she is reunited with Lynne and they kiss (twice!) in front of the whole Yacht club, to everyone's squeals of delight.
3.
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! 11,
Confronted with the sudden loss of her Master, a deeply distraught Mjolnir Hammer can only be consoled by her eternal rival, crying her eyes out in the embrace of Mori Summer.
4.
Girls und Panzer 12,
The entire match against Kuromorimine, especially student council team's heroics and the Miho/Maho showdown
5.
Yuru Yuri♪♪ 11,
Kyouko's crying face when time-traveler Akarin suddenly returns. (Even if it was just Kyouko's story...)
---
Honorable mention: Nisemonogatari 8,
...that tooth brushing. Teeth brushing? Whatever, sexy incestuous dental hygiene.
Top 10 shows of 2012
Full list in the
2012 Year in Review.
1.
Mouretsu Pirates
2.
Hyouka
3.
Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb
T4.
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
T4.
Girls und Panzer
T6.
Dog Days'
T6.
Yuru Yuri♪♪
8.
Saki Achiga-hen episode of side-A
9.
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
10.
Ano Natsu de Matteru
Favorite seiyuu (individual performances)
I actually started to add quite a bit more, but the top three are such utterly superlative performances that I decided it was best to let them stand apart from everything else. (And maybe I'm lazy.)
1)
Sawashiro Miyuki -
Inaba Himeko -
Kokoro Connect - Put very simply, she is the greatest there ever has been, and this role is a particularly beautiful jewel in the crown.
2)
Komatsu Mikako -
Katou Marika -
Mouretsu Pirates - The sort of mind-blowing and overwhelming performance that I desperately hope launches a hugely successful and very very long career.
3)
Nakahara Mai -
Watashi -
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita - Nakahara Mai's spectacular delivery of Watashi's bitingly sarcastic, delightfully quick wit singlehandedly defined this show.
Favorite female characters, new only
No long honorable mention list this year. I'm also only counting
new characters, though characters that were in a first season but only started playing a significant role in the sequel count. Also, one character per show because it just gets way too hard to organize otherwise.
1.
Katou Marika -
Mouretsu Pirates - One of my all-time favorites, not just in 2012. There are other Mouretsu characters I want to mention, particularly Gruiere, but I'll let Marika stand in for them because much of what made them great was how they interacted with Marika.
2.
Dekomori Sanae -
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! - I liked Kumin best initially, and still do like her, but Dekomori being the center of the best drama shot her near the top of my rankings. Dekomori was truly the soul of this show most every step of the way.
3.
Ibara Mayaka -
Hyouka - While I spent more time thinking about Eru in the later eps where Mayaka didn't play as much of a role, overall I still have to choose her. Every episode that focused on Mayaka illustrated her various sides. Quick temper, hard worker, deeply self-critical, strong sense of duty, snarky wit. She's so many different things simultaneously and Hyouka did a beautiful job showing them to us.
4.
Watashi -
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita - Snarky lovely jaded Watashi was quite simply the best possible guide through the surreal world of Jintai. It takes a pretty impressive character to tsukkomi pretty much
the world itself.
5.
Rebecca Anderson -
Dog Days' - Yuusha Becky is best Yuusha! I always wanted her to have a significant role in the sequel but never once did I imagine she would be so. god. damn. awesome. With the help of Cou-sama, she totally stole the second season.
6.
Uryuu Minene -
Mirai Nikki - Just barely edging out Yuno. Minene-sama is amazing because it takes some incredibly character development to turn a brutal child-murdering school-bomber into the most sympathetic character in the entire show by a country mile.
7.
Kyouno Madoka -
Rinne no Lagrange - Satou Tatsuo gave us two great protagonists at once back in winter.
8.
Shirakiin Ririchiyo -
Inu x Boku SS - Best tsundere of 2012. Her constant struggle to express her feelings honestly is easily one of my biggest triggers for feeling moe towards a character and Ririchiyo was the master of this.
9.
Yamano Remon -
Ano Natsu de Matteru - Totally not Ichigo. I debated Remon vs Mio, or even Kanna - this show had some great characters. But Remon really stands out the most once the show did done, even if Mio and Kanna took most of my emotional investment at the time.
10.
Akiyama Yukari -
Girls und Panzer - The most lovable tank otaku ever. I really did not expect her to top my list of GirlPan girls, but there's no denying her infectious enthusiasm and utter dedication to the team. Her crushing on Miho (second favorite) doesn't hurt either.
11.
Matsumi Kuro -
Saki Achiga-hen - Say what you want about the lack of development for the Achiga girls (it'd probably all be true), but I love love love Kuro, so very much. I love a
lot of new characters introduced or given major on-screen roles for the first time in Achiga-hen (Subara!, Teru, Toki for example), but Kuro really tugged those heartstrings.
Favorite male characters, new only
New or newly-important only again. If it weren't new only, Rider would of course be #1 but he already got #1 for 2011 thanks to the first season of F/Z.
1.
Oreki Houtarou -
Hyouka
2.
Tenzou Crossunite -
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II
3.
Togashi Yuuta -
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
4.
Nanba Mutta -
Uchuu Kyoudai
5.
Mashima Taichi -
Chihayafuru
Most adorable characters
Limited to a few so I'm not here all day. Looking only at pure cuteness.
1.
Takanashi Hina -
Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai!
2.
Yuno -
Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb
3.
Akaza Akari -
Yuru Yuri♪♪
4.
Dekomori Sanae -
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
5.
Hoshimiya Ai -
Mouretsu Pirates
6.
Miniwa Tsumiki -
Acchi Kocchi
Most beautiful characters
This is a hard category to define so the list is short.
1.
Chitanda Eru -
Hyouka
2.
Shirakiin Ririchiyo -
Inu x Boku SS
3.
Ayase Chihaya -
Chihayafuru
Most attractive characters
Strictly sex appeal for this category.
1.
Lucy Heartfilia -
Fairy Tail
2.
Yukikaze Panettone -
Dog Days'
3.
Gasai Yuno -
Mirai Nikki
4.
Himenokouji Akiko -
Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne!
5.
Kanoe Yuuko -
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia
6.
Millhiore Filianno Biscotti -
Dog Days'
7.
Neko -
K
8.
Xiao-Mei -
Shining Hearts ~Shiawae no Pan~
9.
Matsumi Kuro -
Saki Achiga-hen
• Basically the whole female cast of
Nisemonogatari
Best yuri pairings
There's almost no canon yuri so I'll make up what I need to! I'm not putting them in any ranked order this year, just alphabetical by show title.
•
Dekomori Sanae &
Nibutani Shinka -
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
•
Akiyama Yukari &
Nishizumi Miho -
Girls und Panzer
•
Kyouno Madoka &
Fin E Ld Si Laffinty -
Rinne no Lagrange
•
Katou Marika &
Chiaki Kurihara -
Mouretsu Pirates
•
Katou Marika &
Gruier Serenity -
Mouretsu Pirates
•
Jenny Dolittle &
Lynne Lambretta -
Mouretsu Pirates
•
Tachibana Hibiki &
Kohinata Miku -
Senki Zesshou Symphogear
--------------------------
A lot of the good stuff comes from sequels and total too many possible combinations to add to the list above: Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb (the three main pairings plus Natsume/Sae), Yuru Yuri♪♪ (EVERYTHING), Horizon (Margot/Gacchan), Saki (EVERYTHING). Sengoku Collection had an overall decent yuri vibe in some stories, though I don't have a standout couple in mind.
Best hetero pairings
There were some good ones in 2012.
1.
Chitanda Eru &
Oreki Houtarou -
Hyouka
2.
Kizuari &
Tenzou Crossunite -
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
3.
Shirakiin Ririchiyo &
Miketsukami Soushi -
Inu x Boku SS
4.
Takanashi Rikka &
Togashi Yuuta -
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
5.
Miniwa Tsumiki &
Otonashi Io -
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
--------------------------
As for pairings returning for sequels, the ones that still stand out are Horizon/Toori again from Horizon II, and Millhiore/Cinque (Dog Days'). I like Hitagi/Koyomi in the Monogatari series too of course, for what parts of Nise it was relevant.
Best ending
2012 was not a bad year for endings, but also did not have an ending on par with, say, Madoka from 2011. So this is a short list.
1.
Yuri Yuri♪♪ - The whole bowing sequence was very meta. It felt like the end of a real-life seiyuu event rather than an anime, and I think that's the effect they were going for. I also loved seeing Akari given a place of honor for once.
2.
Hyouka - For as far as we were able to take the story it was as perfect as it was bittersweet. However, it just drives home how sad it is that we'll never see the full Kotenbu series animated.
Best character art/designs
Characters only, no other considerations. A mix of technical quality and subjective style. Top 5 only.
1.
Hyouka
2.
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
3.
Nisemonogatari
4.
Ano Natsu de Matteru
5.
Yuru Yuri♪♪
Imported anime, first aired in 2011
Includes 2-cour Fall'12 shows not otherwise eligible for this post (i.e. Little Busters). Only TV series listed.
Winter
•
Mouretsu Pirates
•
Ano Natsu de Matteru
•
Inu x Boku SS
•
Rinne no Lagrange
•
Natsume Yuujin-chou Shi
•
Nisemonogatari
•
Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai!
Spring
•
Hyouka
•
Saki Achiga-hen
•
Acchi Kocchi
Summer
•
Dog Days'
•
Yuru Yuri♪♪
•
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
•
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II
•
Rinne no Lagrange season 2
Fall
•
Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb
•
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
•
Girls und Panzer
•
Little Busters!
2013-03-28: Updated for Girls und Panzer, moving it up to a tie with Chuunibyou and adding the final episode in best moments.