The Best of Anime 2009


Now that 2009 is over, here’s a look back at some of the best series the year had to offer. Due to the subjective nature of it all and the fact that we’re constrained to what we’ve seen, we won’t be trying to pick series that everyone finds agreeable this year. Instead, we’re here to convey our personal favorites for 2009, after which you’re more than welcome to chime in with your respective choices. To make things more interesting, we’ve increased the number of categories and separated them into corresponding areas — namely Production, Miscellaneous (fun stuff), Genre, and Notable Others. Also included at the end are the final results to the Reader’s Choice Poll.

New as well this year are my picks as a standalone opinion alongside Omni’s. Previously, I helped him pick a comedy series but the rest of the choices were solely his. This time around, you get both sides of the coin. Under each category, I’ve provided a brief description of what our criteria are. Immediately below that are Omni’s picks along with his comments followed by my own.

 

Disclaimer:
These are purely our personal opinions based on the shows that we’ve seen in the past year. For a show to even qualify for consideration, it had to have met the requirements outlined in the Reader’s Choice Poll. For OVAs/ONAs/movies, the additional requirement is that it’s been either released on DVD/Blu-ray or online so that viewers outside of Japan have had a chance to watch it. This means that series like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Summer Wars (not officially released) are not up for awards this year; they’ll be saved for 2010.