Currently Watching (Winter 2013 Edition)

[Buckeye]

Originally Posted by Buckeye

Up first is Steins;Gate, the second half of it.

And I just finished up the first series of 2013, Steins;Gate. It's a show that takes awhile for it to get going. But once it does get going, it is just amazing stuff. I put this show on the back burner after four episodes back when it was released, partially because it is confusing and partially because I wanted to warm up to it by watching Chaos;Head first. And in the end, it pays off since I definitely enjoyed it a lot more by watching the show in English and in large chunks rather than watching an episode weekly. The first half seems to be a lot of mad stuff by a mad scientist, but the second half is when this show really becomes epic with all the time-traveling to fix a bleak future. Plus there are a lot of mysteries that end up really being something once they are revealed. All of those things make this show a masterpiece.

Up next, Baka and Test season 2 is what I think I will go with next.

[something]

Winter! It's pretty damn great.

Definite or Highly Likely Imports
　01) Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (2)
　02) Tamako Market (1)
　03) Vividred Operation (1)
　04) Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukinai NEXT (1)
　05) Yama no Susume (2)

Will Continue, High Expectations
　06) Kotoura-san (1)
　07) Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (1)
　08) Minami-ke Tadaima (1)
　09) Chihayafuru 2 (1)

Will Continue, Medium Expectations
　10) Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (1)
　11) Puchimas! Petit iDOLM@STER (10)
　12) Da Capo III (1)

Will Continue, Low Expectations
　13) Mangirl! (2)
　14) Zettai Karen Children -The Unimited- Hyoubu Kyousuke (1)
　15) Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? (1)

Not Tried Yet, but planned (alphabetical)
　Amnesia
　Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman
　GJ-bu
　Senran Kagura

Dropped
　Ai Mai Mii
　Boku no Imouto wa Osaka Okan
　Cuticle Tantei Inaba
　

- I'd actually order these a little differently it if were purely how much I liked the first episode or two (Kotoura might be as high as third or fourth place, Yama no Susume would be first) but this is partly based on expectations going forward too. So for example I am virtually certain I'll import Haganai Next but Kotoura had the better first episode.
- Yama no Susume is the most tragic thing ever. What evil horrible heartless bastard decided to make such a magnificent story into 3 minute episodes? Honestly, it should be #1, but knowing it's only got ~30 more minutes total really sucks. But even so, it's the first short-episode show (other than Haruhi-chan/Churuya-san) that I'm seriously contemplating importing. That says a lot. It's so. damn. good. I should probably just put the shorts in a separate category like I do in the full rankings.
- Maoyuu is everything I could have hoped for. I set very high expectations, and considered this my replacement for the never-to-be-seen Ookami to Koushinryou III, and so far it's not disappointing me at all.
- Of the ones I haven't tried yet, GJ-bu is an absolute definite, Senran Kagura is very likely. The others are only if I find myself with time to spare.

[Damius]

Originally Posted by something

Winter! It's pretty damn great.

Talk about it. I mean, I still have to watch the first episode of winter and only with my expectations and reading comments about the first episode of each show, I definitely know it will be really difficult to decide what to import...

[MelancholicMariya]

Originally Posted by something

Will Continue, Medium Expectations
10) Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (1)

This was honestly my surprise of the season, well so far anyway. I was caught off guard by how kinda nicely written it is. The performances are really good, the animation and colour use is amazing (great use of colour is a theme this season it seems) and I seem to really enjoy all of the characters and how they interact. Plus a, so far, well written male lead.

This could be exactly what I wanted Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo to be. Not that Sakurasou is poorly written, but it's kinda missing something for me and I can't tell what it is, though I do dislike Mashiro.

[Glamrgrl104]

Eden of the east Paradise Lost- Wonderful ending to an awesome series.


My little monster- episodes 1-10- This series is hilarious although it has the cliche romance stuff, but I am a sucker for romantic comedies lol.

Library War- Episode 1- Interesting concept. I am quite enjoying it.

[something]

2011 Wrapup Post.

Eligible Shows
- 2-cour Fall 2011 shows through 1-cour Fall 2012 shows
- Long ongoing shows, e.g. Fairy Tail, Hunter x Hunter.
- The following are 2-cour Fall 2011 shows that are counted as 2012: Shakugan no Shana III, Mirai Nikki, Bakuman 2, Chuhayafuru
- The following are ongoing multi-cour Fall 2012 shows that will be eligible in 2013: Little Busters!, Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo, Robotics;Notes, Bakuman 3, Shinsekai Yori, Zetsuen no Tempest. Pretty packed list again.

I recently revisited a lot of my rankings, which made 9/10 a good deal more exclusive than it used to be. It seemed a bit weird to have near-10s like Chuunibyou getting the same number as what are really just "strong 8s" like Papakiki.

So a lot of shows got shifted down in general to draw more finegrained distinctions, meaning 6/10 now includes a number of shows I thought were perfectly watchable, rather than everything in that category being a 7 or higher. Therefore shows that would have gotten an 8 last year might be a 7 this year and so on. If I were doing it the same as 2011, the 9s would probably have gone down to Chihayafuru or thereabouts.

10 (9.8-10.0) out of 10: 2012's masterpieces. Among my favorite shows.
(01)　　Mouretsu Pirates - Winter '12 - 10.0/10 (Satelight) - From about episode 4 or 5 onward, it was pirating time and everything this year fell before the Bentenmaru's onslaught. First it conquered a very very stacked Winter season, then it somehow held out against Hyouka of all things in Spring, and after that it was clear sailing. Mouretsu Pirates was the show of the year, for myriad reasons, but above all for Katou Marika, one of the best protagonists anime has ever given us. She was competent and successful without just having everything handed to her by the plot, and she showed just how much she valued the people she couldn't have succeeded without: Gruier, Chiaki, Mami, the Yacht Club, the crew of the Bentenmaru, and of course her awesome mother. Mouretsu Pirates also scored points with one of the best soundtracks of the year (great OP/EDs too). And I can't possibly mention the show, or Marika, without mentioning my choice for breakout seiyuu of the year, Komatsu Mikako. I want nothing more than for her to become the next big thing after what she proved herself capable of with Marika (and Neko in K too). She's also got a fantastic singing voice too! Lastly, this is the show that solidified Satou Tatsuo as one of my all time favorite directors. [Imported]

(02)　　Hyouka - Spring '12 - 10.0/10 (Kyoto Animation) - Hyouka is the kind of show that you're really not going to appreciate if you focus on the premise and the narrative tricks over the characters. Yes, it's a story from the "mystery" genre but the mysteries are not themselves ends, they are simply means to explore the depths of the characters' personalities, relationships, and growth. They are sometimes simple, even banal, but what they are doesn't (for the most part) actually matter all that much. The OAD episode is a pretty decent example of this - we see how a very trivial, silly mstery is the catalyst to help Houtarou overcome significant depression. By the final episode, Houtarou has changed profoundly on the inside even if a stranger wouldn't see it on the outside. Hyouka revels in that sort of thing. KyoAni's obsession with minor details has probably never been stronger than it was in Hyouka. It's possibly their most visually stunning TV series to date, as far as crisp, consistent, sharp character art goes. The visual experimentation that kicked into high gear with Nichijou carried over to Hyouka in some what more subdued, but no less effective, form as well, particularly in the "deduction" sequences. . [Imported]

(03)　　Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb - Fall '12 - 9.9/10 (Shaft) - Take everything Hidamari has become so beloved for, give it ever-improving production values from Shaft (I'm rewatching the first season right now, and the quality difference is clear as day), and then add in some beautifully executed emotional turmoil over the impending graduation of the third years (season five when?) and of course it's a 10, just like previous seasons were. It's not until you go back and rewatch the first season that you realize how much Nazuna and Nori have livened things up. The dynamic that lets us explore Yuno not just as Hiro and Sae's adorable and self-conscious kouhai, but as the hard-working, caring senpai to Nazuna and Nori, adds some much appreciated flavor to the character dynamics. Other major highlights this season came from the always-bittersweet Natsume scenes, getting to see Miyako acutely self-conscious of Yuno, and of course Hiro's heartbreaking but beautiful and uplifting episode. Another gorgeous ED from Marble is icing on the cake, with Yumegumo being almost as good as Hoshimitsu's Sakura Sakura Saku. There is something very, very special about this franchise. I really can't bear to ever see it end. [Imported]


9 (9.0-9.7) out of 10: The best or among the best in their respective seasons. Definite imports. A few things hold them back from a 10 but they're still the best of the year.

(T4)　　Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! - Fall '12 - 9.6/10 (Kyoto Animation) - 2012 was a great year for KyoAni, taking both #2 and #4. Chuu2koi was the coup de grace for my ability to ever take a chuunibyou protagonist seriously ever again. Kuroneko and Kobato started it, but after Chuu2koi it's just waaaaay too hilarious to watch a show like Zetsuen no Tempest and take it seriously. Not to mean I can't still like it, but I'm just so aware of the comedy behind it all. This was such a great show though, particularly in how it melds together cute comedy with brilliantly executed drama. Episode 11 is hands down one of the best episodes this studio has done. That the production values were phenomenal rather goes without saying at this point. As far as seiyuu go, Chuunibyou took the path of trying out a few newish seiyuu (compared to Hyouka's veteran cast) and the results were great, particularly from Uesaka Sumire, the voice of my favorite character, Dekomori. I also love hearing Akasaki Chinatsu (Shinka) again. Uchida Maaya (Rikka) has a few more roles under her belt than the others but is still fairly new. But again, what really sold this show was the transition into the dramatic material, which was done so naturally. The only thing holding it back from a 10 is that I feel as if it needed a few more episoes. 15 or 16 might have been perfect, allowing for more depth to the ending and better use of Kumin. [Imported]

(T4)　　Girls und Panzer - Fall '12 - 9.6/10 (Actas) - I knew as soon as it was announced that I would love it, so I can't call the fact that I rate it highly a surprise, but perhaps what it a surprise is just how much I loved it. I can only explain it with something intangible: the obvious love and dedication the staff poured into making this the absolute best show they could, from making every one of the many girls unique and interesting, to the care given to how the tanks are depicted. Unfortunately they couldn't pour in quite enough love to get their work done on time, so we're still waiting on the last two episodes. Ah well. This show borrowed some elements from two of my favorite franchises - not that they originated with those, but they seem like the obvious immediate influences: the military bishoujo genius of Shimada Fumikane, a la Strike Witches, and the all-girls non-traditional sporting tournament, a la Saki (with some very familiar character dynamics too). It defines its own unique identity in the process and I think it's easy to understand why it's become such a phenomenon in otakudom. I admire shows that can take an absurd premise, treat them with total seriousness, and not come off feeling remotely inappropriate. GirlPan does just that. [Edit 2013-03-28, moving up to a tie with Chuunibyou thanks to the mind-bogglingly perfect final episodes.] [Imported]

(T6)　　Dog Days' - Summer '12 - 9.3/10 (Seven Arcs) - YUUSHA BECKY HELL YEAH. That pretty much sums up Dog Days'. Hoping for Nanami to get her turn in the spotlight in season three. I don't know if season three will totally eschew an overarching plot like season two did, but if it does, that's really not going to be a problem. The battles-games provide ample opportunity to show off what makes the characters so lovable. This is the sort of show that's discovered a formula that'll pretty much work forever, without major changes needed. [Imported]

(T6)　　Yuru Yuri♪♪ - Summer '12 - 9.3/10 (Douga Koubou) - The time travel episode is still probably the height of the franchise. This season was most notable for even more HimaSaku goodness, but also Akari getting some love! She took her fair share of abuse again, of course, but that just makes the moments where her friends show genuine affection for her all the more satisfying. She's one of my favorite characters of the year, without a doubt. [Imported]

(08)　　Saki Achiga-hen episode of side-A - Spring '12 - 9.2/10 (Studio Gokumi) - I recently rewatched the first season, which allows me to see both the strengths and flaws of Achiga-hen. It falls short of Saki in some very important ways: the mahjong is rather subdued in comparison, until the semifinals airing in bonus episodes now. The yuri, at least in the main cast, is weaker. The pacing isn't as good. Probably the biggest issue is that the titular school plays second-fiddle much of the time. I don't know if Senriyama was already the most popular school among manga readers, but the writers went a little too far in making Achiga secondary characters in their own show. Saki first season balanced the schools better - it was obvious Kiyosumi were the protagonists, but everyoe else was developed well to. Yet in the end, all that hardly matters. I absolutely adored the hell out of this show, and everyone in it. From Subara-tan to Toki wo Kakeru Toki and finally getting to see Teru in action I loved every single episode. And while Achiga came off as "just another school" in the second half, I felt that the initial introduction was very very strong and that enabled em to fall in love with them right away, and maintain affection for them throughout. Kuro in particular. Knowing that Zenkoku-hen is coming, I'm perfectly happy to view Achiga-hen as a bridge story, and think it excels at it if you accept that Achiga is not Kiyosumi, and Shizu is not Saki. I can't wait for the last three episodes, though I desperately wish this had been two cour. They could have filled 24 episodes easily. [Imported]

(09)　　Jinrui wa Suitaishimashita - Summer '12 - 9.2/10 (AIC ASTA) - Most clever show of the year. The fairies are the best mascot characters ever, Watashi is one of Nakahara Mai's best roles, and oh that snark. The morbid sense of humor, the surreal art, the great OP and ED, on and on. This show is totally irreverent towards everything and that's why it works. I also enjoyed the mostly backwards chronology to it. [Imported]

(10)　　Ano Natsu de Matteru - Winter '12 - 9.1/10 (JC Staff) - Nagai Tatsuyuki doing what he does best: emotionally intense teenage romantic drama. I'd say this was the best romantic drama of the year, as I define it. This did suffer a little from "Everyone else is more interesting than the lead couple" syndrome, but that's only really an issue when the lead couple is bad - which was emphatically not the case here. One relationship thread I was hoping to see resolved was left "in development" rather than explicit, but that it got that far at all made me very happy. Ishihara Kaori really grabbed my attention in Winter with both Madoka from LagRin and Kanna in this show. And of course, Remon is fucking awesome. There is never enough Yukarin. [Imported]

(11)　　Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II - Summer '12 - 9.0/10 (Sunrise) - It's as good as season one without the 3-4 episode struggle of adjusting to the narrative style that came with season one, which means it just got to be awesome the whole way through. Tenzou came out of nowhere to be one of my favorite characters in the show, the subplot with Gacchan and Margot was really nice, even if being Gacchan is suffering. Kimi continued to illustrate why she should probably just be classified as her own species of awesome. Gin vs Futayo was one of the best fights of the year. Plus Suzu x Adele. <3 I still feel like I have to ignore 80% of the detail in a given episode in order to process the basic narrative, but it's getting a bit better, and I'm willing to just lay back and accept the more chaotic bits as they come, enjoying them for their own sake. [Imported]


8 out of 10: Many of these get imported, but one or two things keep them from being the biggest and best standouts of the year for me.
(12)　　Inu x Boku SS - Winter '12 - 8.8/10 (David Production) - Ricihiyo! Her and Soushi were early contenders for favorite hetero couple of the year, although they faced competition later. Given its sales I'm still hopeful about a sequel. [Imported]

(13)　　Rinne no Lagrange - Winter '12 - 8.8/10 (Xebec) - Highest rated mecha series I watched this year (unless Horizon counts), and also one of the best endings (for the first season) thanks to that "bye bye!" scene. I liked the first season more than the second overall, though both are pretty great. This wasn't in the same league as Tatsuo's other Winter series, Mouretsu, but it was a solid addition to his position as one of my favorite directors. I also rather appreciated him delivering two really great female protagonists to us (Madoka and Marika). [Imported]

(14)　　Natsume Yuujin-chou Shi - Winter '12 - 8.7/10 (Brains Base) - When a show has been delivering the same consistent sort of quality, with the same themes, for four seasons, it can be tough to find something to talk about. I could start with not enough Reiko! but even without her I manage to like this show so much after all this time. This and Hidamari need fifth seasons announced together. [Imported]

(15)　　Hunter x Hunter - Ongoing, pre-'12 - 8.7/10 (Madhouse) - Fairy Tail is still my favorte long shounen overall, but in terms of 2012 material Hunter x Hunter gets the nod because it got to showcase its best material, and possibly the best single shounen fighting anime arc, i.e. Yorkshin and the Spiders. Meanwhile, Fairy Tail spent a good deal of time in a filler stage. Greed Island just started and is what I've been dreading for some time, given how much it turned me off from the first series, but Madhouse has been so solid so far that the benefit of getting to watch it in a weekly TV format might improve the experience. We'll see when I do the 2013 rankings, I guess!

(16)　　Uchuu Kyoudai - Spring '12, Ongoing - 8.7/10 (A1 Pictures) - I love space exploration. And I really love the way this show deals with it. Or ways, rather: comically, absurdly, seriously, deeply emotionally, whatever is appropriate at the time. It can be dumb then inspiring from one week to the next. At its best, it beautifully captures the wonder of that "final frontier", even if most of the characters tend to spend their time earthbound. There was a stretch in the selection exam where it dragged a bit, but many recent episodes have been top-notch.

(17)　　Nisemonogatari - Winter '12 - 8.6/10 (Shaft) - This needs to get some kind of award for the best fanservice of the year. I found this fell a little short of Bakemonogatari, probably due to the strange structure of the series. Both series had somewhat unsatisfying endings (Nekomonogatari was an improvement there), but Bakemonogatari felt like it flowed better, even though it was cut up into character arcs. There were also more major emotional climaxes. But Nise continued the rapid-fire banter between characters that defines the series, and was no slouch there compared to Bake. Exchanges with Shinobu were particularly great. I also liked Tsubasa a lot more in Nise than in Bake. [Imported]

(18)　　Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai! - Winter '12 - 8.6/10 (Feel) - It's really nice when a show makes sure to avoid all the easiest ways it could go badly. It wasn't perfect - Sako is a horrible character, Sora's feelings could have been handled a little better, a few of the fanservice scenes weren't the best - but it continuously impressed me with the amount of feeling it showed. This is a show where it's a little easier to nag at the flaws than to articulate clearly why I liked it, but the good really did outweigh the bad for me, by quite a lot. It crossed between lighthearted and dramatic very well, Oh and Hina da yo~ was totally the cutest child character of 2012, hands down. [Imported]

(19)　　Kokoro Connect - Summer '12 - 8.5/10 (Silver Link) - The Michi Random bonus episodes did a good job improving my opinion of the franchise. I always found it a mixed bag, combining great ideas and pretty great characters (and Sawashiro Miyuki's best performance of the year as Himeko) with execution that aaaaaaaaalways seemed to be missing that little something that takes it to the level of greatness. All the raw materials were there but they weren't in the hands of the best possible craftsman. Even so the end result was very good, with moments of brilliance, even if the ends of some of the arcs felt lacking. In the end I'd still be delighted if more shows were as good as Kokoroko. [Imported]

(20)　　Acchi Kocchi - Spring '12 - 8.5/10 (AIC) - Total, fluff, but fluff is what you want sometimes. And when it comes to fluff, Acchi Kocchi is masterful. [Imported]

(21)　　Chihayafuru - Fall '11 - 8.5/10 (Madhouse) - This would be a 9 if Arata would just go away. My favorite character in the show is actually Taichi, which is part of why the whole Arata plot annoys me. But what a great show, really. Like any good show about a competitive game, it turned something that would bore me to tears in reality into something both exciting and elegant, and conveyed the passion of its players clearly.

(22)　　Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun - Fall '12 - 8.4/10 (Brains Base) - As mentioned below, I liked Yamato better than Haru, but the extended cast gave Kaibutsu-kun the slightest leg up on Sukinayo. This was a more vibrant show, as well as funnier, and that gave it a slight edge even though Shizuku and Haru don't do it for me as much as Mei and Yamato do.

(23)　　Sukitte Ii na yo - Fall '12 - 8.4/10 (Zexcs) - Three shoujo in a row. I've said that if you took the best of this and the best of Kaibutsu-kun, you'd have a lock for an import. Alas we can't do that, so Sukinayo gets points for the better male lead and cuter romance.

(24)　　Fairy Tail - Ongoing, pre-'12 - 8.3/10 (A1 Pictures) - Uh, this goes somewhere around here I guess. Ranking long ongoing shows is very hard. The filler arc was one of the low points of the show, but we had to have one eventually, right? There were some very good elements to it, but it simply went on too long. Still, even when it's not at its best, Fairy Tail is a damn good show, and the Grand Magic Games are proving that.

(25)　　Shakugan no Shana III - Fall '11 - 8.2/10 (JC Staff) - Oh, what the hell should I make of this show? It's part 10/10, part 6/10 so split the difference and add a few tenths for Shana love and a great OP? The final quarter of the show just got irredeemably awkward as development after development was crammed in, spiraling towards a ruly ridiculing endgame - although I liked the very last scene a lot. Before all that, though? Oh god I loved it loved it loved it. I adore what they did with Shana's character through much of that. Her grim determination, and her devotion to fight for what she believed to be right. Made me fall in love with her all over again. The long running battles through much of the first two thirds of the show were also very exciting and full of great set pieces. But it's damned hard for me to wrap my brain around a final verdict. I'm really happy the franchise got animated to completion, and there's no way I wasn't going to import it, but I wish it could have ben done much more elegantly in the later stages. The sheer number of characters I didn't know anything about and didn't feel invested in did not help. [Imported]

(26)　　Mirai Nikki - Fall '11 - 8.1/10 (Asread) - Yuno and Minene and complete insanity results in a lot of reactions along the lines of simply "WTF THIS SHOOOOOOW!". Where do you even start?

(27)　　Rinne no Lagrange season 2 - Summer '12 - 8.1/10 (Xebec) - It lacked in some areas compared to season one, but it was a worthy followup and a good conclusion. [Imported]

(28)　　Bakuman 2 - Fall '11 - 8.0/10 (JC Staff) - I have a feeling my comparatively lukewarm impression of season three is affecting my ranking for season two, because I ranked this above Chihayafuru when I did my last Fall '11 update, and now it's well below. But Nakai is simply one of the most intolerable characters ever written. I hate hate hate hate him. I still think the main couple is a terrible romance. And I'm not a fan of Iwase at all. And yet, this show still ranks very highly on the strength of, well, everything else. The formula


7 out of 10: These will fade from memory faster than the 8s but they were fun while they lasted. Very unlikely that anything getting a 7 would be an import unless I cooled on it pretty quickly after buying.
(29)　　Upotte!! - Spring '12 - 7.9/10 (Xebec) - More than any other show this year, Upotte!! is the one that will get the least respect relative to what it really deserves. Written off by so many as mindless fanservice, what we actually got were a number of really good firefights and even some serious character material. Yes, and fanservice, sure. Maybe some of the good feeling I have for it is radiating from the warm glow of other military girls shows like GirlPan and the SW movie, but I really liked it at the time too.

(30)　　Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate - Summer '12 - 7.8/10 (AIC Build)- It's a little sad to realize that the highest rated visual novel adaptation on my list is only 29th. In fact, it's the only one I finished. Hell I only even got to try two! But hey, times change, industries evolve. At least I have Little Busters! for 2013. I still really enjoyed this show, though. I didn't seem to mind most of the things people found to be flaws (thought the ending was really good too) either. A certain bullying subplot wasn't handled well, and everything had to come together very quickly at the end, glossing over a lot of details, but fundamentally the show was very enjoyable.

(31)　　Another - Winter '12 - 7.8/10 (PA Works) - Ah, comedy horror. I don't like even mildly gory things much, and tend to shy away from the horror genre, but Another was so damn amusing that I could look past it. The pure clusterfuckery of how things ended was fantastic. And the twist, while a bit of a cheat, was good. Yeah, I liked this.

(32)　　Nazo no Kanojo X - Spring '12 - 7.7/10 (Hoods) - I can't say saliva weirds me out any less, but the point of this show wasn't the fetish, it was the way an awkward young couple stumbles through love. It's really quite heartfelt when you get own to it.

(33)　　Tasogare Otome x Amnesia - Spring '12 - 7.5/10 (Silver Link) - A mixed bag. Some episodes were good, others decent, but episodes 10 and 11 were among the best of the whole year. Yuuko's backstory was just absolutely goddamned phenomenal on every level.

(34)　　Sengoku Collection - Spring '12 - 7.5/10 (Brains Base) - This show was given the animation budget of my average bowel movement - way to B team it up, Brians Base. But what it lacked in production values, or even coherence, it made up for with a degree of experimentation that sometimes fell flat, but sometimes scored real brilliance. Particularly Yoshitsugu and Angel. It's the kind of episode that you finish and think "wait what show did I just watch?" Sandbox wars, Bashou's haiku episode, anything involving Ieyasu, Shingen in space and various other stories were pretty great.

(35)　　K - Fall '12 - 7.5/10 (GoHands) - Komatsu Mikako as Neko is what made the show for me, but when it wasn't trying too hard to be stylish (and stumbling over its footage reuse) this manged to be a very solid "gang war"-style show. Sort of like a low level Durarara I guess. Second season is definitely on my to-watch list. The lead trio is too fun to pass up.

(36)　　Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru! - Summer '12 - 7.4/10 (Studio Gokumi) - Three cheers for shows that take the plot in the interesting direction rather than the easy direction. Sure it's dumb as hell and full of fanservice, so yes it is the show you assume it is, but it's also something more than that too. WHO IS IMOUTO was actually handled a lot better than I expected, making this one of those "unexpectedly competent!" anime, and a pleasant surprise.

(37)　　Senki Zesshou Symphogear - Winter '12 - 7.3/10 (Satelight) - All I wanted was a kiss at the end! Goddamnit! That could have put this ten spots higher. Well there's always the sequel, which I do look forward to. More silly singing superpowered girls please.

(38)　　Sakamichi no Apollon - Spring '12 - 7.2/10 (MAPPA) - It's a beautiful gem that someone tragically stopped polishing right before it started to truly shine. It peaked at the incredible cultural festival performance, then really started to unwind in the closing episodes. Early on I thought it could be one of the best shows of the year, but something just happened, and it ended up being "pretty good" instead.

(39)　　Hakuouki Hekketsuroku - Summer '12 - 7.2/10 (Studio Deen) - Switching to a male protagonist actually worked out, not that I disliked Chizuru. The very awkward ending of the second season was gone thanks to the powers of prequel. And Serizawa, surprisingly, provided a three-dimensional, interesting antagonist. All in all my favorite of the three seasons so far.

(40)　　Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? Of the Dead - Winter '12 - 7.0/10 (Studio Deen) - I guess a bit of the show's luster faded, which is why this is the first sequel to an import that I didn't import. It's certainly not bad at all, I can think of a lot of things I like about it (especially the next episode previews). But it didn't really compete with most shows this year.


6 out of 10: Nothing particularly wrong with these shows, but nothing that particularly amazed me. Or, some may be shows that should have been good but had some major flaw. Worth watching at any rate.
(41)　　Kami-sama Hajimemashita - Fall '12 - 6.9/10 (TMS Entertainment) - Quite good, maybe it should be a 7, but whatever. Tomoe and the other guys were okay, but Nanami was the real draw.

(42)　　Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan - Spring '12 - 6.8/10 (Production IG) - Happy bread. What I constantly thought while watching this was "surprisingly competent!". Which I guess sounds like damning with faint praise, but that's not my intent. I was pretty convinced it would fall apart if it introduced plot, but oddly enough it held together well.

(43)　　Fate/Zero season 2 - Spring '12 - 6.5/10 (ufotable) - I stopped taking this franchise seriously very early on in season two. It was kinda fun to watch but just so goofy, even though it was trying to be serious. Waver x Rider is 90% of the appeal though. Rider is a god among men, and Waver is adorable, so they totally made F/Z.

(44)　　Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne! - Fall '12 - 6.3/10 (Silver Link) - Dumb last minute development. Drop in production values hurt it too, because pretty much the whole appeal was the fanservice (especially of Akiko), which was pretty great when the art quality was at its peak. Overall pretty funny though.

(45)　　Moyashimon Returns - Summer '12 - 6.2/10 (Telecom Animation Film) - Marie was great, but by and large it kinda lost something the original series had. Or, that I assume the original series had, because I have a reasonably positive memory of it even if I can't remember why for the life of me. I dunno, it was decent but things derailed with Paris.

(46)　　Sankarea - Spring '12 - 6.1/10 (Studio Deen) - It's not bad, but it is a cautionary tale against introducing plot for the sake of plot. Rea's dad did nothing to improve this show at all. He just took away time from the "my cute dead girlfriend" fun.


4 out of 10: This did not go as planned.
(47)　　Natsuyuki Rendezvous - Summer '12 - 4.0/10 (Douga Koubou) - I tend to drop shows I feel this negative on long before they get to the end. But a combination of 1) a reasonably strong start, 2) only being 11 episodes, and 3) being on Crunchyroll, so I could just make it part of my usual rounds, caused me to somehow end up finishing it. The whole final arc and everything involving Atsushi completely turned me off unfortunately.


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OVAs/Specials/Movies/Other: Not ranked; "Extra" episodes that follow the original broadcast like Achiga-hen or Kokoroko are considered part of the TV series and not listed here.

　　K-ON! Movie - Movie - The absolute best piece of animation of 2012 (ok it premiered in Dec '11, but the BD date matters for movies). The perfect capstone (if it's the end) to the series. I don't think I can even get started on this without going on for paragraphs. Just typing this out I'm feeling overwhelmed thinking about it. This movie was everything I have ever loved so deeply about K-ON! taken to another level. Thematically, it simply could not have chosen a better unifying concept (Tenshi ni Fureta yo) to express the deep love and friendship and affection that exists among the members of the band and particularly of the third years towards Azusa and double particularly from Yui to Azusa and HOLY FUCK IT I'm putting this post on hold to go rewatch it right this second. ::comes back:: ...yeah, it's still got it. It's a masterpiece.
　　Strike Witches Movie - Movie - Wonderful. I still need a third season but this was just the thing to get me thinking about the franchise again until that happens. Seeing more witches was great, and there were so many great dogfights. Perhaps slightly overboard on "Yoshika is superhuman" but unlike certain other shows, it worked because everyone got to be badass as hell.

　　Nekomonogatari - Specials - The most important thing this did was to clarify a lot of things about how Koyomi thinks about and reacts to Tsubasa in Bake and Nise. It added a good deal more depth to what is the most complex of all of Koyomi's relationships, and I thought it handled it quite well.

　　Yurumates - Short episodes - Of the recent flood of mini-shows, this stands out as one of the better ones. The jokes seemed timed well enough to make the short format work. Liked 2011's Morita-san wa Mukuchi a bit better though.

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Dropped: I've started rating dropped series, but only if I see at least 6 episodes.

At least 6 episodes, scored:
　　Ixion Saga DT - 7 eps - 6/10
　　Kill Me Baby - 7 eps - 6/10
　　Brave 10 - 6 eps - 5/10
　　Tari Tari - 6 eps - 5/10
　　Kidou Senshi Gundam AGE - 27 eps - 4/10
　　Accel World - 19 eps - 3/10
　　Sword Art Online - 20 eps - 0/10

Less than 6 epsiodes, no score given:
　　Medaka Box - 5 eps
　　Oda Nobuna no Yabou - 5 eps
　　Zero no Tsukaima F - 5 eps
　　AKB0048 - 4 eps
　　Queen's Blade: Rebellion - 4 eps
　　Tantei Opera Milky Holmes 2 - 4 eps
　　Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu Utakoi - 3 eps
　　Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou - 3 eps
　　Haiyore! Nyaruko-san - 3 eps
　　Highschool DxD - 3 eps
　　Natsuiro Kiseki - 3 eps
　　Arcana Famiglia - 2 eps
　　Chitose Get You! - 2 eps
　　Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai - 2 eps
　　Muv-Luv Total Eclipse - 2 eps
　　Tsuritama - 2 eps
　　Campione - 1 ep
　　Aikatsu! - 1 ep
　　Aoi Sekai no Chuushin de - 1 ep
　　Ebiten - 1 ep
　　Eureka Seven AO - 1 ep
　　Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna - 1 ep

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TOTALS:
47 completed 2012 TV series. Pretty consistent with 2011's 43.

20 TV series on the list are being imported in full, up two from 2011. I ended up importing almost 43% of the TV shows I watched to completion, slightly more than last year (17 of 43). Besides TV series, I imported the K-ON! and Strike Witches movies. I'll also be importing Nisemonogatari but it doesn't release until March.

22 dropped shows, down for the first time in a few years. I would say this is mostly due to trying less shows out, and I guess I picked fairly well since I still ended up finishing even more shows.


Quite the year, to say the least. I wonder if the close completion and import numbers between 2011 and 2012 are going to be the norm gong forward. Winter '13 is already off to a good start, and there's one carryover import (Little Busters) that'll count as 2013.

[Buckeye]

Originally Posted by Buckeye

Up next, Baka and Test season 2 is what I think I will go with next.

I just finished up with the season season of Baka and Test. This show makes its money on the comedy as it is really funny with Akihisa being so dumb and all the avatar wars. The first season was really funny, and while this season is a little bit less so, it does tell a more complete story with the episodes that explain this history of Minami, Yuuji, and Shouko. The first half with the summer vacation and the training camp were so-so, but the second half was really nice to watch. Overall, it continues to be quite funny, which is why I like to watch this show. I was expecting Class F to declare another summoner war, and while a summoner war was part of the season, it is not the same type that happened during the first season.

Up next, I'm thinking I will go with K-On!!, the second season.

[Damius]

Something, I don't see Kokoroko in your list...

[Nico87]

Already have my imports lined up for Winter, thankfully.

Vividred Operation
Kotoura-san
Maoyuu
Boku NEXT
Tamako Market (shut up, something )

I might pick up and import an additional show later on that I didn't watch simulcast like I did with Tonari no Kaibatsu-kun (vols. 1 & 2 in January order) and Suki-tte Ii na yo (vol. 1 in February order), but those five are it for me right now. Just too bad that store exclusive boxes have already been confirmed for all of them except Kotoura-san (no retail box confirmed yet either for that matter)!

[something]

Originally Posted by Damius

Something, I don't see Kokoroko in your list...

Huh, I know I typed something up originally, but must have accidentally deleted it when setting things in order, and not noticed when I renumbered. Thanks, re-added! Now I wonder what else I forgot... I know I didn't add Smile Precure, which I should have, but I'm going to wait until after I finish the show since I'm still a ways from the end, and do it in 2013.