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With the new year rapidly approaching, it’s time to look back on our favorites of 2011. This is the Sixth Annual Reader’s Choice poll, where it’s your turn to voice your opinion and have it heard!
Continuing the trend from two years ago, there are two polls for your to vote on — one for regularly broadcast TV series and another for OVA/movies. We’re asking for your top 5 picks in each poll to get a better spread of results that aren’t heavily skewed in favor of any unanimously popular shows. This year, you have 99 TV series and 57 OVA/movies to choose from, so have a careful look over the lists before deciding. Also, please respect other people’s choices in the comments and keep in mind that this is purely subjective. People like what they like.
The usual criteria applies here: For a regular broadcast TV series to be considered, it has to have finished airing in 2011. The general idea here is that you can’t really judge a series until it’s over, so shows such as Chihayafuru, Mirai Nikki, Guilty Crown, Shakugan no Shana III (Final), and Fate/Zero (upon further consideration) will appear in next year’s poll. Series with a second season already planned but a clear stopping point such as Kimi to Boku and Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon are included.
For OVA/movies, it has to have been released on Blu-ray/DVD in 2011 to qualify, ensuring that viewers outside of Japan have had a chance to watch it. This mostly pertains to theatrical offerings. The difference from TV series is that it doesn’t necessary have to be complete, which is why you see Gundam Unicorn episodes three/four, and Towa no Quon movies one through five in the list as single entries. OVAs are released infrequently, so it could be several years before they’re included in a poll if we wait for them to be finished. For this year, I’ve also omitted one-off bonus/unaired OVA episodes bundled with BD/DVD volumes, simply because it didn’t make sense to treat them on even terms as actual OVA series and movies.
As far as I’m aware, the anime series list is complete, barring a handful of shows that are animated but unlike your “typical” anime. The OVA/movie is purposely less so for the reasons above; however, if you feel there’s something the deserves consideration, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail and I’ll add it. Let the voting begin!
Note: The polls don’t have a fixed close date just yet, but it will be sometime next week when the Winter 2012 season starts.
Update: Polls closed. Thank you for taking the time to vote! Results will be posted soon in the upcoming Best of Anime 2011 post.
I’m actually not voting for Madoka and AnoHana so that I won’t be helping them pass Steins;Gate which is why I had to vote for Steins;Gate and 4 other series for humor.
I know you’re probably a big fan of Steins;Gate but if you honestly think that Madoka and AnoHana should have got your vote and you didn’t just cos you want Steins to win then…
You sir are an idiot =)
If there was second best or third best I would have chosen them but I chose other series which were competing for 4th 5th in my mind and will mostly likely be unappreciated in the poll.
With a choose 5 system what decides the best isn’t how much something is the best but rather how much something manages to get liked by everyone and unfortunate as it is most people not familiar with otaku culture are likely to leave it after the first episodes while the characters are only just getting introduced and there isn’t an actual enemy. Whereas Madoka is hyped enough that everybody knows they should watch until 3rd episode and AnoHana is just easier to like.
All I can say is…
You mad scientist?! Sonuvabitch!
You do know you don’t have to vote 5? It says UP TO 5. Either way, still a terrible reason not to pick series you like…..whats the point of a poll if you’re not going to vote honestly? If S;G is that good (and I agree its great), it’ll win, naturally. You don’t have to go that far.
I think that most people would agree that Madoka and AnoHana were among the best probably top 10 easily, but I think a lot of people also have personal tastes. What is wrong with voting for animes you simply enjoy to watch? If you really like Madoka, AnoHana, they would probably be on the list you voted for lol.
don’t worry man, im one with you
butthurt madokafags
Oh? I see Steinfags everywhere science fails… MADOKA FTW!!!
No just kidding… 😀
But yeah, there were comments that watching Steins;Gate will make you fail Quantum Physics.. X3
can i vote for stein’s gate x 5?
i see the word stein;s gate in most comments 🙂
Uh, TIGER & BUNNY, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Madoka Magica, STAR DRIVER, and Ao no Exorcist. I don’t think I tuned into/kept up with a couple series I think I should have, i.e. Steins;Gate, Ano Hana, BLOOD-C – or maybe it’s just those three.
Black Lagoon and Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo. Certainly did not watch enough from that category to feel justified in voting for five.
There are so many that i wanna vote but i can only choose uP to five 🙁
With a New Years coming by, we reflect on all the awesome animes that have aired and all the hard work Divine put in. Toast to you boss
ALL HAIL DIVINE!
ALL HAIL OMNI!
/hide
Idolm@ster. Hands down.
I really liked im@s, but top 5? eh?
……………..
lmao why not! It was, at the very least, the show I was most looking forward to watch each week (and it certainly didn’t start that way).
Same deal. It was a meh series that ended up being /sadface it’s done.
Aw man, is it just me or reading the titles from the list envoking some flashbacks of the best moments from each series?
Episode 10 from Madoka – Show Spoiler ▼
Episode 23 Steins;Gate – Show Spoiler ▼
Epic times.
Denpa Onna To Seishun Otoko, Deadman Wonderland (Manga is so good), UN-GO (Dark Horse, Madoka (OMGZ!), Mawaru Penguindrum.
I woulda said Ao No Exorcist but that anime original content was terrible compared to the manga.
Ano Hi Mata was also very good but not my kind of anime to really stay loyal to it.
Only saw Towa No Quon from the movie/ova section.
Must admit i’m going to download .hack//quantum now tho =D
The fact that the Deadman Wonderland was so good makes me even more disappointed at the unworthy adaptation. I think there was one episode out of the many that I actually liked a lot
Agreed
I just noticed that 2010 was much better, I had a really hard time to choose just 5 series. This year was easy.
voted for:
Natsume Yuujin-chou San
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa mada shiranai
Steins;Gate
Level E
Madoka
AnoHana, Madoka Magica, Steins;Gate, Mawaru Penguindrum and Usagi Drop are my chosen ones. I don’t plan to vote for the OVAs because I haven’t seen more thna half of them so it wouldn’t be fair =)
We have the exact same top 5. Very nice.
I’m supposed to Vote Madoka Magica and Nichijou, but they put their LIMIT of voting 5 best anime of 2011 (TV/OVA/Movie), but i only vote some eroge based anime, but i didn’t seen Suite Precure….only Heartcatch Precure, I’m supposed to vote 12 anime titles this year….
Wow, seriously 99 TV series and 52 OVA/movies. Sadly I have only seen and finish maybe around 20-25 series and watch 3 OVA’s this year. And still it’s pretty hard to pick just 5 because I enjoy almost all of them. But for the OVA it’s only CARNIVAL PHANTASM!, CARNIVAL PHANTASM!, macross, CARNIVAL PHANTASM!, and break blade.
I just went through that list to see how many shows I finished and I ended up with 72. That surprised even me.
Wow, Divine. Just wow.
Going through that list, I have 48 shows I finished, excluding the shows I dropped and put on-hold. Adding the two-cour shows in Fall, that’s more than half of the shows.
Funny because I thought I watched a lot of shows this year. Oh well.
If Fate/Zero was on that list it would have been my choice ):
I’d have to go with KnT2 and Usagi Drop as my top choices, with Madoka, S;G and AnoHana to round it up.
Yeah, there are a handful of shows that I started but put on indefinite hold:
– Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen
– Kami-sama no Memo-chou
– Maken-Ki!
– Manyuu Hiken-chou
– Tamayura ~hitotose~
Everything else that I said I was going to watch in the Season Schedules, I watched to completion.
Dropping Maken-Ki!, Manyuu Hiken-chou, Tamayura ~hitotose~ I completely understand, but is there any particular reason you dropped Kami-sama no Memo-chou?
Wow Divine I’m impressed that’s a lot of shows. As expected of a God-tier Anime Guru like you. I used to be an anime aficionado like you, then I took a wife and…….. All hell broke loose. (I jest! : P )
@Bass.EXE:
None of those were dropped due to lack of interest mind you. In Kamimemo’s case, it was just a matter of falling behind and never bothering to catch up because of its slower progression . I’ve seen up to episode 5.
is divine: man, machine, or godly?!
Dayum 99 aye .. I counted up to 45, almost half!!
I wonder how I managed that :S
Man divine watches anime like I used to til i got a full time job.
Heh, I’ve had a full-time job for the past 5 years though…
GINGA BISHOUNEN!!!! 😀
KIRABOSHI!!!
APPRIVOISE!!! /no1
Too bad STARDRIVER didn’t appear in 2ch’s top ten. :/ I was expecting at least its in the third place.
Voting for Horizon.
Still disappointed you guys dropped it, it turned out to be the most enjoyable show of this season.
I could’ve picked it up since I watched it, but I didn’t want to take on any more shows blogging-wise. I’ll probably blog season two though.
Would be much appreciated by those who watched the series and never read the novels i think. The entire series was hard to make head or tail of until i read the blog explaining how the school council president was ranked politically. Some of the long explanations from politics to economics would have been easier to digest as well.
Thanks, would be great if you or someone else of the team picked up season 2 of Horizon.
btw. any chance we’ll also hear some (final impressions) about the Carnival Phantasm OVA’s?
Not from me, since I never got around to watching them.
That surprises me, considering you’re watching Fate/Zero. You should at least try to watch episode 8 with Saber. 🙂
I watched it. finally kind of understood what happened half way through. I assumed that the people who enjoyed it liked the unconventional nature of the show. Personally I think the deciphering the info dumps was too much of an unrewarding effort. I wonder what cheknov would have thought of this story lol.
I think the main issue is that there are too many unexplained stereotypical rpg characters. I still don’t know over half of them or who they are much less who the antagonists are. It relies on fleshing these characters out with short touching story. All the coexistence superpowers, mechas, and magic are kind of unexplained, and I think Tori’s power is kind of uninspired and cheap.
Well the novels are call Light but are avg 1000+ pages per vol. Thirteen ep isn’t going to introduce every character in any detail. The first season is basically just a intro to the series.
One question where is Kaiji Hakairoku Hen? That would be my Anime of 2011. It aired from Apr 6, 2011 to Sep 28, 2011 – http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=10271&referer=malupdater
Hmm, I don’t know why it wasn’t there originally, but it should be now under “Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen”. Polldaddy was acting up on me when I was entering all the options.
That was a terrible year for anime – then the likes of Seikon no Qwaser makes it into the top 5 (with one spot EMPTY) – it really means something.
OVA fared better, as it had some numerous good pieces like Black Lagoon, Towa no Quon or Mardock Scramble,
I think it means you didn’t give enough series a proper chance. Before you call it a terrible year, maybe first tell us how many shows you actually watched to completion to make such a claim…?
Divine, I’ve tried about 35 TV shows. I like seinen action anime with mature themes, as well as funny and interesting stories. I hate almost everything school themed, ugly loli art and the slice of life genre. I also never watch blatantly censored shows, as well as butchered adaptations of light novels and manga that I’ve already read. All that is left was ridiculously mediocre, leaving me with zero desire to re-watch it (my main criteria for an anime to be considered “good”).
Fair enough, but you’ve really limited your options by completely ruling certain types of shows right from the get-go. Also, please keep in mind that just because you don’t like those genres doesn’t mean they’re “terrible” to everyone else. A glaring example would be if you didn’t watch Madoka Magica because it’s a magical girl anime.
i watch at least 80% of them, 20% either dropped or didnt even bother to watch, and i can say that this year is not that terrible! but quite few that excels.
Yeah it’s quite the opposite; the quality was very high this year (Usagi Drop S;G, Mawapen…) and everybody could find at least one big anime wich correspond to their tastes.
(sorry for the english)
Why don’t you mention some of what you DID watch?
As Divine said, if you didn’t watch Madoka because it was a magical girl series, you did yourself a HUGE disadvantage. Did you watch Steins;Gate? Mawaru Penguindrum? UN-GO?
By limiting your standards THAT much, you’ve pretty much already screwed yourself over for a terrible year of anime (i.e. there wasn’t enough of what I like!!) before it begins. Open your mind more. Just because there’s a lot of bad shows to weed through in the history of anime doesn’t mean it’s all bad. Just because you’ve had a bad experience with a genre doesn’t mean it’s all bad. There are always exceptions and there are always gems- you just have to look for them and put forth the effort so you can reap the reward.
Sorry for the attitude here- these types of posts really get me going.
Steins;Gate, AnoHana, Usagi Drop for me these three were the best of the year..
No Redline for the OVA/Movie section?
Wasn’t that only released on Bluray/DVD this year?
It’s right there, it’s the only thing I watched this year and I voted for it. It is mindblowing 😀
I am mad scientist. So cool. Sonuvabitch!
Stein’s Gate – for science!
Madoka Magica – for making me look at magical girls with different perspective
Deadman Wonderland – for sheer craziness
Hanasaku Iroha – for fluffy heartwarming factor
Haganai – for cast of outcasts much like me IRL and still being funny as hell
Saying you watch Steins;Gate for science is like saying you watch To Aru Majutsu No Index for religion studies XD.
You say awesome things from time to time xD
hmm. I would have voted for everything.:(
But I only voted Macross F – Sayonara for movie.
steins;gate
anohana
boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai
nichijou
torn between: hanasaku/IS
as for OVA/Movies: 0
Is there no Blood Prison?
Naruto: Blood Prison isn’t out on DVD until next April.
oh it seems i haven’t watched many ova’s and films this year, Higurashi is the only one on there that i have watched, damn! oh well i will watch some of them when the results come out so i know the best ones.
My Top Five that I would have added had this poll been Top Ten (Which is should have been)
Usagi Drop
Nichijou
Ika
Gosick
Tomodachi
1-Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
2-AnoHana
3-Steins;Gate
4-TİGER&BUNNY
5-Mawaru Penguindrum
Movie
1-REDLINE
2-Mardock Scramble
3-Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
4-Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa
5-Uchuu Show e Youkoso Or Coloful
El Psy Congroo.
Favourite anime – voted for ones which I enjoyed at the time and currently want to pick up on DVD:
AnoHana
Kamisama Dolls
Mawaru Penguindrum
No. 6
Star Driver
Favourite OVA/Movie – can’t vote as I’ve seen none of them.
Tv series
1-Madoka Magica
2-Anohana
3-Steins;Gate
4-Mawaru Penguindrum
5-TİGER&BUNNY
Movie
1-REDLINE
2-Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
3-Mardock Scramble
4-Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa
hmm lets see…
Star Driver
Madoka
Steins;Gate
Kimi no Todoke 2
Show Spoiler ▼
as for OVAs/Movies :
Break Blade
Macross Frontier(Sayonara no Tsubasa)
Mardock Scramble
Eiyuu Densetsu Sora no Kiseki
Baka to Test Shoukanjuu Matsuri
Thanks man for sharing your votes for movies found some realy good movies which I didnt know about:
Mardock Scramble
Eiyuu Densetsu Sora no Kiseki
as far as it goes animes are covered in season previews and some are bloged but those cool movies just manage to slip unnoticed
Wow, pretty much the only OVA on here I’ve watched was Roberta’s Blood Trail. Still, it was awesome so one vote for that.
There’s no Kyousougiga in OVA/Movies section D: I know that it’s hard to include everything, but this OVA was amazing for me~
I voted for Madoka, Steins;Gate, Tiger&Bunny, UN-GO and Penguindrum <3
Added Kyousougiga.
Thanks!
For me, this was probably the best year anime-wise in a long, long time – quite a number of interesting, thought-provoking series.
My picks:
1)Steins;Gate (A fun first half, and a completely engrossing second half which had me on the edge of my seat most of the time. Episodes 22 and 23 were especially amazing.)
2)Anohana (The entire cast kept developing and changing throughout the entire show, and remained realistic and likeable while doing so. They were prone to overacting at times though, which I feel is one of the series’ few flaws.)
3)Madoka Magica (Found the first couple of episodes a bit boring to be honest, though it picked up quickly after that and kept getting better. Also my pick for the series that exceeded my initial expectations the most.)
4)UN-GO (It saddens me how underrated this is. Though it started out pretty badly, the mysteries just became more and more interesting and difficult to figure out.)
5)Tiger & Bunny (I’m somewhat ambivalent to the superhero genre in general, but this show still managed to be pretty fun to watch. I especially loved the sentimental parts – the developing relationship between Tiger and his daughter being the prime example.)
About the first couple of episodes of Madoka, I thought they were boring too during airing time (nearly dropped it until I saw the comment count for ep.3). When I rewatched it though, knowing more about what’s actually happening and the reasons behind some certain character actions, it suddenly became much more interesting to me.
It was similar in Steins;Gate’s first episode which was a bit confusing on the first watch but in the end you see what was hinted at and how everything is connected.
where is The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya?
I can’t find it
The Haruhi movie is from 2010 (both the theater showing and the BD/DVD).
steins;gate
ano hi mita
gosick
mawaru
madoka
Me oh my…
Best Series:
1.) Steins;Gate (El Psy Congroo)
Self explanatory.
2.) Nichijou
Made me laugh… til my stomach… hurt…
3.) Deadman Wonderland
Loved it… seriously…
4.) Kimi ni Todoke Season 2
So very very very satisfactory ending.
5.) Ao no Exorcist
Damn, this show was the bomb the first few episodes… it got all emotional… ._. I try to forget the Deus Ex Machina at the end…
Shouldn’t Xxx Holic Rou be included?
There are a few OADs I purposely chose not to include, but “xxxHOLiC Rou” wasn’t one of them. I’ve added it to the list.
1. Steins;Gate
1. Madoka
3. Kami-sama Dolls
4. THE iDOLM@STER
5. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Damn… We need a top 10 for this year!
I think S;G, Deadman Wonderland and maybe AoEx or Anohana will be in the top even though I didn’t vote for all of them.
how bout the Toradora OVA? It came out a few days ago.
Yeah, I was going to suggest that and the Seitokai Yakuindomo OVA episodes as well. I guess unaired/extra episodes aren’t meant to be included the poll though.
It seems a bit strange that the Kampfer OVA was included though – those just felt like extra random episodes. Is it that the OVA just has to have a unique name for it to be on the list?
The Toradora OVA is exactly the kind of OVAs that I wanted to leave out this year. The same goes for Seitokai Yakuindomo OADs, since it also had a TV series attached. You’ll notice I left out the kiss x sis OADs too.
You make a good point about Kampfer though. The reason I chose to include it was because it was announced as a “new project” and looked like a TV series sequel at first. (Both episodes were supposed to air on TV, but then the earthquake happened and only one of them aired.)
TV Series
1. Mawaru Penguindrum
2. Steins;Gate
3. LEVEL E
4. Tiger & Bunny
5. Nichijou
OVA/MOVIE
1. HELLSING VIII
2. Gundam Unicorn (eps 3-4)
3. Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa
4. Carnival Phantasm
5. Yu-Gi-Oh! ~Chou-Yuugou! Jikuu wo Koeta Kizuna~ (Abridged to be exact)
I feel dumb, but I can’t figure out how I vote or see this list of 99 anime.
Are you blocking scripts with your browser? The polls are displayed via JavaScript.
Thank you! You are a techno wizard. I was able to successfully resolve my problem!
1) Homura Magica
2) Mawaru Ringodrum
3) Bakuman
4) Zombiessuka?
5) Kaminomi 2
Anime Top 5:
1: Steins; Gate
2: Madoka Magica
3: Ano Hana
4: Mawaru Penguindrum
5: Tiger & Bunny
Top 3 for me were easy to choose, 4 and 5 are there just because their endings did not meet the lofty standards they have set for themselves through the series, though special mentions to Level E, Usagi Drop, Un-Go.
I only finished 3 animes this year….so sad don’t have enough time T.T
OVA/Movies:
1: Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
2: Redline
3: Kyousougiga
4: Gundam Unicorn
5: Mardock Scramble
1st place was easy for me, simply the best by far. Redline was just awesome for those actions and graphics. The rest kind of just filled in themselves, due to the lack of offerings I’ve watched this year.
>.< let's see…
AnoHana
Madoka Magica ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Steins;Gate Tuturu~
Usagi drop
and the fifth one was the hardest decision I've ever had… ok no, but between Haganai, Tiger & Bunny and No.6 I'd said No.6 :3
Steins;Gate
Mawaru Penguindrum
Level E
AnoHana
Ben-To
Honourable mentions: Usagi Drop, Deadman, Fractale, & Fabulous Driver
As for OVAs:
Mardock Scramble by a long shot
REDLINE (hell yeah)
Hoshi wo ou Kodomo
.hack//Quantum
…and none of the others were good enough to mention. I thought Break Blade ended up being very meh.
For me,
1) Mawaru Penguindrum
2) Madoka
3) Steins Gate
4) Ano hana
5) Hourou Musuko
My Top 5 favorite animes of 2011.
Nichijou.
Infinite Stratos.
Toaru Majutsu no Index II.
The Idolmaster.
The World God Only Knows II.
My top 5,
Madoka
The Idolmaster
TWGOK 2
Un-Go
Usagi Drop
Madoka
Star Driver
Un-Go
Usagi Drop
and Mawaru Penguindrum
Voted for:
– Madoka: my favorite 2011 series, I know it’s overhyped and that it isn’t the first “dark” mahou shoujo series but it’s still pretty good, even though I forgot most of the Sayaka arc.
– Steins;Gate: a little slow at the beggining but in the end it was pretty good. Okarin was a pretty good male lead and Kurisu, even with the tsundere stereotype, was loveable.
– Mawaru Penguin Drum: Started out as comedy and ended out as something strange. Weird and full of symbolism but I love the style, it’s pretty surreal.
– Id@lmaster: was expecting a cutesy anime but the drama was pretty well made. I wished it a bit more dancing sequences at the end but I liked how they focused on the characters.
– Sekaiichi Hatsukoi: much better than Junjou Romantica and the characters (except Chiaki and Yokozawa) were more likeable. Besides, sparkly bishies, flowers and bunnies.
– Carnival Phantasm: I enjoyed a lot the Fate sequences, specially episodes 1, 5 and 8. I watched the Tsukihime anime (yes, bad decision) but I plan to play the VN (just finished the Fate one) to find out what I’m missing. The OP is really catchy!
1) Steins;Gate
2) Usagi Drop
3) Hourou Musuko
4) Un-Go
5) Hanasoku Iroha
Nichijou
Steins;Gate
Meduka
Ano Hana
iDOLM@STER
(No particular order)
Relatively easy choices with MAL reminding me of the scores I gave each one.
Random thoughts on the year:
-Although I enjoyed Mawaru, I think it’s honestly way overrated. Underdeveloped character backgrounds considering it’s 2 cour, weakly developed themes, heavy symbolism with little meaning. It was an ok show but nothing I would like to marathon again.
-Yuru Yuri was amazing, just not enough space this year. 🙁
-Tiger & Bunny was also great but the drop in animation quality hurt it.
-Ikoku Meiro was a surprise treat to watch.
-Ao no Exorcist was fun to watch but the plot got out of control. Bummer since I found many positive similarities to Naruto’s first season.
-Infinite Stratos: Char!!! Oh God the OVA was amazing. They really should just dump the mech aspect of this show and focus more on the real stars: the girls.
-Star Driver was too busy being cool to have a really consistent plot overall but I still came away impressed, especially with the OP and ED songs which are still in my song rotation.
-Hanasaku Iroha left me somewhat ambivalent, on one hand it was a decent slice of life anime and on the other it tried to be this drama that never delivered. I had stratospheric expectations for this show especially after the first episode but in the end I was pretty indifferent to Ohana and her crew.
-Great to see that LEVEL E is getting votes. It was clever, hilarious and totally underrated but I don’t think it’s best anime of the year material though.
-Whats with all the detective shows this year? I don’t particularly mind them, I just don’t think they make for good storytelling or repeated viewings.
-I think overall this was a pretty decent season with no real clear cut winner overall. Lots of great genre specific shows which is great considering how much generic high school harem shows are out there this season anyways. However I haven’t given a single anime this year a 10 (Meduka was nearly there) on MAL which is a bit disappointing but there were a lot of 9s I gave out.
1)Mawaru Penguindrum
2)Steins;Gate
3)TIGER & BUNNY
4)Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
5)Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Even though I didn’t end up voting for Idolmaster, I was considering. I’ve enjoyed alot of the series on offer this past year. There were more than a handful I enjoyed where if you told me so last year, I would’ve probably laughed at you. That sums up a pretty decent year for me I’d say.
I’m pretty sure that Madoka, Steins Gate and Ano Hana will be in the top 5 or at least top 10… Anyone wanna make a bet?
haha think that is a given, judging from the comments so far… the remaining is like a toss up btw a few series, but my guess will be Tiger & Bunny and Mawaru Penguindrum
1) IdolM@ster
All others not watched
Steins;Gate
Madoka
UN-GO
Usagi Drop
AnoHana
For me, the list is:
1. Steins;Gate (hands down, the best anime this year)
2. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (if it wasn’t for Steins;Gate this would have ended as the best of the year for me but nevertheless it was awesome series)
3. Usagi Drop (Daikichi and Rin made me laugh or just smile so many times!)
4. AnoHana (it was good anime and I enjoyed it a lot but there were times when I found Menma annoying)
5. Ikoku Meiro no Croisee (that was heartwarming and perfect way just to relax)
My top 10 for 2011. I probably passed on several great series, but oh well…
1. Stein’s;Gate
2. Un-Go
3. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika
4. Kamisama no Memo-chou
5. Hanasaku Iroha
6. Kamisama Dolls
7. To Aru Majutsu no Index II
8. IS: Infinite Stratos
9. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
10. Hidan no Aria
Might as well throw in my least favorite series of 2011. Each of these series had its moments, but were overwhelmingly bad or forgettable overall…
1. Blood-C
2. Mashiro-iro Symphony
3. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
4. Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi
5. Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
So many great releases in 2011. Timing couldn’t have been better, as I just got into anime this year. Glad I came across this site too. I don’t know where I’ve been for the past 22 years, but I’m definitely a fan of anime now.
From the looks of others thoughts and recommendations, I will give Penguindrum a spin. Can’t wait to hear what Divine and the others have to say about 2011. Thumbs up to all of them for putting in the time and a job well done.
For me:
1. Steins;Gate
2. Usagi Drop
3. Madoka Magica
And a distant 4th and 5th
4. Mawaru Penguindrum
5. Mayo Chiki
S;G was the perfect amalgamation of all the different genres that I like, and it was presented flawlessly. This is by far one of my all time favourites.
Usagi Drop was just all around nice, and it’s one of few series that the main characters are likeable and doesn’t make me facepalm.
Madoka Magica sealed the deal for me with ep3 and especially ep10. One of the biggest mind=blown moment ever.
Mawaru Penguindrum deserves a rewatching later on to pick up on all the subtle symbolism and imagery I may have missed the first time around. Those 3 penguins made lol quite a bit.
Mayo Chiki is 5th because I expected to get nothing from the series to start (plot/ char dev), and ended up enjoying it because of the antics one specific character (Suzutsuki Kanade). Great for just some mindless entertainment.
Wow I can’t believe I forgot madoka.
my list in no particular order
Kore wa Zombie desu ka
Steins;Gate
Hanasaku Iroha
Hidan or Aria
Mayo Chiki!
Damnit forgot Anohana, Usagi drops, Nichijou and many more 🙁
THE IDOLM@STER is the one for me.
While I also voted for Madoka, Ano Hana, IS, Mayo Chiki based on the series I actually finished watching this year. I have to say that the dark-horse IDOL show is winning me tenderly. All another show is good especially Madoka and Ano Hana for story wise. It just that there is something magical about THE IDOLM@STER. With 25 episodes, you actually got none of the crappy one. It’s all good. Maybe the reason I like it so much is because I don’t have any anticipation for this show at all. I even started to watch this when it aired for about 11-12 episode already, but I’m hook straight away.
I watched anime show for fun and something to think about. And that exactly what THE IDOLM@STER delivered. I wouldn’t mind watching it all over again. I know what I’ll get. Entertainment.
Well that was hard.. :\
Why is the Unlimited Blade Works movie not here? I thought it had a BD-DVD release in 2011.
…Such an awesome movie. Would have liked to see some more Shiro and RIn scenes, though 🙂
That was last year >_>
My bad, then.
It was hard to decide on 5.
Went for:
– Steins;Gate, one of my favourites ever.
– Gosick, an incredibly touching and romantic story.
– Tiger & Bunny, pure fun with the best character cast of the year.
– Star Driver, fabulous and probably needed the votes since people have probably forgotten by now.
– Penguin Drum, a show where I got so attached to the characters that they became my reason for watching.
Also loved AnoHana, but I figured that’ll get enough votes as is.
did u forget infinite stratos ova or did i miss it?
…And then suddenly Divine places it in the list like magic 🙂
I left it out for the same reason as the Toradora OVA, Seitokai Yakuindomo OAD, and kiss x sis OADs — it’s a one-off bonus episode for a TV series and not a standalone OVA series.
For this year, I’d like the poll to be about OVA series that don’t have a TV series counterpart (which are/were already considered in a year-end poll) and movies.
By this logic, many of the OVAs would be of questionable applicability.
not that many
my votes
stein;s gate, one of the best i watched
infinite stratos, harem + comedy 🙂
kore wa zombie desu ka, almost the same reason as infinite stratos
baka test and boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai funniest anime i watched this year.
Personally definitely Madoka for me. Stein;s gate is number 2. The story telling style of both are very different. Madoka is story based meaning the story sucks you in while Stein;s Gate is character based, which manipulates you into liking some characters to hold on to the viewer. At the very end though, both reversed their roles, with Madoka becoming character based and Stein;s Gate becoming story based.
The one thing Stein;s Gate loses to Madoka is the less compact storyline. You have to applaud Madoka for delivering in 12 episodes vs SG’s 24.
The remaining are really far from those 2. AnoHana is very good. As a tearjerker, its always easier to connect with the audience. Even comedies are hit and miss more than a sad story. However, it really pushed the melodrama too hard at some places, to the point of making the audience realise that it was manipulating emotions. That was one reason its pretty distant from the first 2.
The only other one i could truly say was good enough was Level E. The first 2 and last 2 episodes are a real killer. The middle episodes were on the level of amazing to average. Don’t have a fifth since the rest of the anime i watched are either more suitable for specific tastes
I went for
1. Steins; Gate
2. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
3. Ano hana (still have some mixed feelings)
4. Mawaru Penguindrum
5. IS – Infinite Stratos
I really dont think IS belongs on there but it was one of the most fun series for me to watch. Not sure why it wasn’t on the OVA list otherwise I might have voted it there.
Liked Tiger&Bunny, Natsume Yuujinchou, Haganai, Kore wa zombie desu, Level E too.
Went with Steins, Madoka, Penguindrum, Tiger&Bunny, and UN-GO. I definitely got a lot of enjoyment from those five, though there’s a huge gap in quality between the first three and the later two IMO.
Madoka Magica, Steins;Gate, AnoHana, Mawaru Penguindrum, and Usagi Drop.
OVAs/Movies are tough choices.
Madoka, Steins’Gate, Moshidora, Penguindrum, and Hourou Musuko in no particular order. I seriously struggled with adding Usagi Drop and AnoHana, but that just goes to show how excellent this year was.
It’s amazing to me how uncommercial Moshidora and Hourou Musuko were. They were both… pretty damn good. The same goes Tiger & Bunny (lol, uncommercial). And surprisingly, I was even thinking of adding Star Driver on. While at first it seems like a rather silly choice, on the second watch, Star Driver becomes a whole new series.
Oh, and I hate to say it but Macross deserves to win the OVA. The love put into the animation and story is incredible.
GAH! So many series. Time to start splitting them into genre. Because I had to not vote for a ton of….. . (oh you’re kidding me I skipped Usagi Drop. AUGH!. Case in point.)
….Great Series. T^T. … choosing 5% is stupid hard x_x. Tons of Excellent Anime this year. blurgh.
Strangely enough OVA/Movie was an easy selection for me >>;. I just chose the 5 i’ve actually seen <<;;;.
i voted for
– steins;gate
– yuru yuri
– haganai
– [c]
– maria holic alive
this was a pretty good year for anime, most of them were really interesting to watch
I believe most would agree that 2011 is an excellent vintage year for anime, there’s just so many memorable titles to choose from that I don’t recall having such a headache choosing just 5 amongst them. Such was the quality that was on offer this year.
For me, the top 4 this year is between Madoka Magica, AnoHana, HanaIro, and Idolm@ster (Im@s is also surprise package of the year as well), the last spot was nearly a tie between Ikoku Meiro, Usagi Drop, MoshiDora, Nichijou and Working!! I eventually went for Ikoku Meiro (I noticed no one has yet picked this overlooked title).
I am aware of the rave reviews Steins;Gate is receiving, but as I have not yet have the time to watch that, I do not feel I would be able to judge how good it actually is. So apologies to Steins;Gate fans. I will definitely try and watch it once I have time.
Special mentions: Steins;Gate (as explained above), A-Channel, Ben-To, Haganai, C3, and MayoChiki.
For movie/OVA category, I could only choose Carnival Phantasm (excellent self-parody of the Nasuverse by Type-Moon themselves), as the K-ON movie was not included for consideration due to it being just out in theatres in Japan this month, which is a shame as I rather enjoyed that movie.
i’m probably gonna get downvoted, but after watching the first episode of stein’s gate, the main character’s “mad scientist” schtick just annoyed me and i haven’t been able to pick it back up since. i’m not one to be picky about spoilers so i read the summary of the game, and felt the story was great, but i just got really turned off. i tried again midway into the series when it was getting really good, but same thing. maybe i’ll change my mind in the future.
Man, you anon down-voters are impossible to please. I already clearly explained why I did not consider Steins;Gate for this year’s top 5, I even offered an apology and offered to consider watching it at a later date.
But nope, for you mindless down-voters it’s: “tl;dr. Oh, look, this guy didn’t vote for Steins;Gate so must be an idiot, thumbs-down”
This is why I will always bitch about the cons of negative voting on here, Divine. If it makes it sound like I’m butthurt in order to get your attention, so be it.
….looking at the list I realized that I started watching 67 shows this year with the full intention of finishing all of them but somehow ended up only finishing 10….
Now I know what to do for my month and a half long winter break!
My votes were cast based on the rankings I give each show I watch.
S-Rank:
1. THE iDOLM@STER
2. Steins Gate
A-Rank:
3. Madoka
4. Yuru Yuri
5. Star Driver
My Top 10 (no particular order)
1. Steins;Gate
2. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
3. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
4. Hourou Musuko
5. IS Infinite Stratos
6. Kami-sama Dolls
7. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
8. THE IDOLM@STER
9. TIGER & BUNNY
10.Usagi Drop
Too many good series, I wish that I could vote for more…!
Hoping that 2012 to be a good year for anime too, (and that I have time to see all the great stuff)
Hmm? Most of my faves have aired early this year(Madoka, Stardriver, Infinite Stratos…).
Why is Divine asking for only the top five again?
I voted the usual ones, Madoka, Steins Gate, Usagi Drop, Bakuman. Really hoping that Star Driver and Redline get the votes they deserve.
And I was surprised to not see Fate Zero in the list. I guess we’ll see it in next year’s voting when the second season has aired, but the first season alone would have had my vote.
My Top 5 (no particular order)
Anohana – Great slice of life (for the parts that were..about life) ~but yeah, really enjoyed it, quite an emotional series. lul
Usagi Drop – I think this anime is one that I looked the most forward to watching each week, and that’s saying a lot!
Nichijou – Flawless. Funniest comedy anime I have ever watched tbh.
Madoka – The last three episodes really made the entire series for me. It did get a little dry in the middle.
Natsume – I really liked the focus on Natsume this season! As always, such a solid series.
😀
Steins;gate
Madoka magica
Kamisama dolls
Tiger & Bunny
Usagi Drop
In that order.
This was a really hard year to pick for though, a truly excellent year in anime. There’s been so much awesome this year, even though only one can be Anime of the Year, there were certainly enough series for a few years worth of top awards.
We almost have the exact same lists =D
S-Rank:
1.- Steins Gate
2.- Madoka
A-Rank:
3.- Moshidora
4.- GOSICK… pudo haber sido mucho mejor, pero junto los suficientes méritos para estar ahí.
5.- Nichijou
Divine, you might want to add Rurouni Kenshin : Shin Kyoto-hen to the list of OVA/Movie category.
Unless I’m mistaken, that was screened in theaters in December, but the Blu-ray and DVD aren’t out until March 21, 2012.
5 is not enough, needs 10 votes
Open number is better, IMO.
1. Mawaru penguindrum
2. Madoka Magika
3. Nichijo
4. Ano hana
5. Star driver
1. Penguindrum
2. Madoka
3. Star Driver
4. C
5. Dantalian no Shoka
1. Steins; Gate
2. Tiger and Bunny
3. Mahou Shojo Shoujo Madoka Magica
4. Usagi Drop
5. Dantalian no Shoka
Honourable mention to Fireball Charming and Star Driver
OVA
1. Redline
2. Sengoku Basara: The Last Party
3. Senjou Valkyria 3: Tagatame no Juusou
Steins;gate – Anohana – Usagi drop – Boku wa tomodachi – Denpa
aaaand Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
Can’t seem to find Karigurashi no Arrietty in the Movie list 🙁
Added.
1. Steins;Gate
2. Usagi Drop
3. Bakuman
4. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni!
5. Kore wa zombie desu ka?
Korewazombie is not really the best of the year, but I picked it, cuz i haven’t watched anohana or madoka, which I read a lot of comments about. It was quite funny, funny enough to be picked. I see a lot of Steins;Gate votes, I hope it wins, because Steins;Gate was just EPIC
EL PSY CONGROO!
Not in order:
-Tiger and Bunny
-Madoka Magica
-Nichijou (underrated in my opinion)
-Mawaru Penguin Drum
Nichijou
Madoka Magica
AnoHana
Hanasaku Iroha
Working’!!
I didn’t get around to Steins;Gate or Mawaru Penguindrum, but I plan to watch both of those during spring break (2012).
Instead of favorite I went for what I considered the best of the year and could not include shows like Maji de Watashi (my jewel of the year) or Dragon crisis! that turned out better than expected. Sadly there is the other side of the coin with shows like Ikoku that turned into a pure vulgar otaku moesheet fest.
I picked:
1. Steins;Gate (no doubt)
2. Madoka (genre breaking and doing it good)
3. Usagi drop (darling of the year)
4. Anohana (well… it was ok and the soundtrack was really good; consistent art too)
5. Idolm@ster (my true jewel of the year)
My Picks Would be
1.Steins’s Gate – absolutely brilliant
2.Blood – C Though many gave up on this one I just never lost faith cause i know there was something so freaking mind bugling behind it all and i just knew the3 reveal of it would be the bomb and i was right, S^.^Sv
3.Blue Exorcist – many criticized the anime and kept on comparing it to the manga, although this one has original content and very much made diff to the manga, and i have learned my lesson in reading manga first from the anime, or reading ahead with it, most of them you’ll just end up disappointing you so better to just watch it first then read, perfect examples of these for me is Gantz and Deadman wonderland. Enjoyed Gantz cause i did not read the mnga, was disappointed in DW cause i decided to read the manga. So for me the Blue Exorcist anime rocked, xD
4.C – love this one so unique and well thought off short but nonetheless sweet. (–,
5.and my number five is No.6 lol 😉 – this anime was so intense loved every minute of it and i did not mind the bromance at all, which even suprises myself that means the anime is really good,
as for the movies i did not watch a lot but on my list are
Break Blade
RedLine
Macross F Sayonarra Tsubasa = haven’t watch it though but what can i say im a MF Fangirl and i definitely would watch this one and i know I would definitely love it. S^.^Sv
For Blood C, it was less of a mindfuck, and more of a “we just wasted your time by making a 12 episode twist that makes 10/12 of its episodes pointless. Come watch our movie now.”
1. Steins;Gate
2. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
3. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
4. The Idolm@ster
5. Nyanpire The Animation
Watched: 37
Dropped: 6
Total: 43
I was surprised, because I generally don’t like to drop anime unless it gets intolerable for me to sit through (what happened with Horizon, Ore-Tachi, [C], Itsuka Tenma, Blood-C, and Hidan no Aria)
However, the good shows this year were REALLY good, and it’s clear that Madoka and Steins;Gate have basically reached the famous status where they’ll be talked about for years and years to come.
Thank you so, so much for all of your work this year Divine. Take it a little easier next year, or at least next season!
Oh, I also wanted to mention AnoHana as a runner-up. The only reason that it didn’t make the list is because there was a lot of lost potential. Anaru, Yukiatsu, and Poppo were the only characters I truly came to care about, because everyone was stuck being Menmasexual. Tsuruko was COMPLETELY wasted by becoming a moodier rehash of Anaru. Jinta was interesting, but at points he went to the point of becoming annoying with his Menma obsession (same happened with Yukiatsu, who I loved aside from that fact). Menma was nothing special- she was a token loli with cute faces.
Although I am critical of the series, it’s because I had very high expectations of it to be something special. The beginning was a fantastic start, but it dwindled into forced drama over and over again (aside from the three I mentioned before- Anaru’s breakdowns were very touching and raw). I enjoyed watching it, but I don’t think it’s as well-done as many people make it out to be. The message of the show was beautiful, the ending was done well, but the road there was very, very rocky.
I’m prepared for all the thumbs-down I’m going to get.Other comments on the year:
– I loved Penguindrum and looked forward to it every week, but at times it seems like it was trying TOO hard to be extraordinary that not everything went together. Show Spoiler ▼
I get the feeling that Ikuhara was trying SO hard to put symbolism in everything and SO hard to make a series that would be able to be proudly placed by Utena in terms of symbolism and plot twists that certain aspects got completely forgotten along the way. That’s the only reason I didn’t put it up there (besides making that painful Ringo-stalking-Tabuki arc far too long)- otherwise it was an incredible ride and I loved every second of it.
– Level-E was absolutely HILARIOUS when it was in its stride. The reason it’s not up there? They spent too much time on that Power Rangers spoof. It had amusing parts, sure, but those were undoubtedly some of the weakest episodes of the series when compared to the others.
– Nyanpire gave me diabetes. It’s just too cute. I had to chime in for it. When I finished the series, I felt empty inside with no more episodes.
– Kore wa Zombie was laughs after laughs and even with the melodrama they got into at the end, the characters were strong enough to overshadow that.
– This was overall a strong year for comedy! There were a lot of funny shows. Same for detective shows, like someone else mentioned.
From what I’ve seen of the early, early, early previews of what’s coming in Spring, I am insanely excited for some plot-heavy shows!
Top Fav Anime:
1- Level E
2- Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi (1 & 2)
3- Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
4- Usagi Drop
5- STAR DRIVER
Honorable Mentions
(anime with major LOL moments):
Ben- To
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
WORKING’!!
Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san
Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu!
My top 5 favorite.
1. Steins;Gate – I love time travel stories. From Back to the Future and Bill & Ted to Donnie Darko and Butterfly Effect. Time travel is a really interesting plot device.
2. Madoka Magica – Sailor moon and Akazukin ChaCha were the only other magical girls I’ve ever watched before. Madoka shattered my presumptions towards the genre. Mind=Blown.
3. Nichijou – gags were hit or miss, but nevertheless it was funny and brightened up my day each week. Also, amazing animation quality for a gag anime. I wish there was more of it.
4. Bakuman – glad there’s a 3rd season of this. One of 3 manga I currently read. Claymore and Berserk needs more anime!
5. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai – I enjoyed Oreimo and Haganai is more of that same kind of humor. Not a bad thing for me.
was there a saint seiya movie 2011 ??
It’s a full CG movie to commemorate the series’ 25th anniversary, but after looking into it further, I’m not sure if it’s actually out yet. It did get some votes, so I’ll leave it for now.
Here’s the official site with a trailer:
http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/movie/seiya_cg/
The CG Saint Seiya movie is supposed to come out in 2012, unless it gets delayed. It definitely shouldn’t be on the list.
Peulla Madoka Magica – Deconstructed the magical girl genre. Managed to be beautiful dark and engaging. Answered the questions in the end and felt damn satisfying overall.
Tiger and Bunny – It wasn’t a super hero adaptation and it wasn’t a standard anime. But the premise and characters felt so fresh and fun it separated itself from both of the categories. Got a bit lame near the end but Hell, the ride along the way was too good.
Natsume Yuujinchou – Not an original series but considering how I looked forward to this show every week and how it really went the extra mile advancing the characters it won my vote.
iDolm@ster – Guilty pleasure that turned into an honest joy. I didn’t expect much more than it being a quiet series I’d track but it shouted out and demanded to be a good memorable series
Mawaru Penguindrum – Ambitious, philosophical with a combination of great characters and plot twists. Sure it got a bit obtuse but reading between the lines you could actually find something relevant as opposed to some pompous bullshit that other similar series usually have inside.
Honorable mention
Level E – Apparently the original material was written a while ago. The fact that the shit it skewers still is relevant and funny today, says a lot about how clever this series is. Sadly, it didn’t quite make the list.
Straight up no and what I’ll probably get blasted for
Ano Hi Mita Something Something Do You Think You’re Fiona Apple Naming a New Album? – I admit I did enjoy this series but I feel like it was over rated. It covered a delicate topic decently, and I literally mean decently, not really well. It did a good job examining the reactions of a group of friends as they grew up. But the damn over acting and an odd dose of more typical anime characterization often leaked in enough to make me cringe and spoiled the impact of what they were covering. Sometimes more is less and apparently the writers forgot that crucial detail.
1. Mawaru PenguinDrum : Shibereru Darou
-SEIZON SENRYAKUUUUUUUU!!!
-IMAAAGINE!!!
-FABULOU MAX!!!
-DESTINY!!!
-95!!!
2. Puella magi Madoka Magica : O w O
3. Steins;Gate : KRISTIIINA!
4. Ano Hana : Menmaaaa!! T_T
5. INDEX II : *w*
S;G, Tiger and Bunny,Gosick, IS, AnoExo, AnoHana
I voted Steins;Gate. Nothing else really caught my eye this year; although I did watch a fair number of OVAs such as Carnival Phantasm.
Sad to see 2011 go. Has got to be my favorite year for anime, in over a decade. So much m’m m’m good stuff.
Where’s Hyouge Mono, AKA Tea for Life, Tea for Universe?
I believe it just finished so should be included.
I know nobody saw it because it was hardly subbed but it was still a fantastic series.
It’s actually not finishing until the end of next month because it’s an unusual 39 episodes. I double-checked this on syoboi.
I don’t see the Hayate no Gotoku movie which came out this year. I’m sad.
@Divine: Episode 3 of Yozakura Quartet’s OAD is out since the 9th of November, I thought you just didn’t had the time to blog it yet so I didn’t wanted to bug you by reminding you if you were actually already planning to blog it but as it’s been almost two months now, and since you didn’t include it, it seems you simply forgot lol.
1/Tiger&Bunny, 2/Level E, 3/Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector, 4/Kimi to Boku, 5/Yu Gi Oh 5D’s. I watched many others but those are the ones I enjoyed the most. Runners ups would be pretty much everything else I watched, I like what I watch. Though choosing those fives weren’t hard as they’re my favorites favorites I guess. (Yes, 5D’s was awesome as hell.)
Also I would’ve definitely added Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream in my vote if it had ended.
OVAs/Movies:
Black Lagoon, Break Blade, Yozakura Quartet, Tales of Symphonia Tethe’alla-hen, Mazinkaiser SKL. I liked Redline & the Yu Gi Oh movie a lot too.
I believe you’re referring to OAD episode 2. You’re right about not having gotten around to blogging it, but I didn’t forget it — I purposely left it off the list for the reasons stated above.Sorry, I thought you were talking about Seitokai Yakuindomo for some reason. You’re right about forgetting about Yozakura Quartet ep3. I’ve included it in the poll with ep2. I’ll try to get a post out about it sometime later too.
I’m glad there’s someone other than my self who loves Super Robot Wars. No other anime can match SRW in terms of epicness condensed into 26 episodes.
Madoka — Just when you are expecting a typical magical girl show, it bites you. I think the emotional shock from Mami-san is going to scar me for life.
Usagi Drop — “My family is my inspiration.”
Steins;Gate — Good Ending…GIVE ME THE GOOD ENDING (marathon the series was a blast)
IdolM@ster — A pleasant surprise.
Star Driver
The last place was hard. AnoHana is a very nice series, but I guess Star Driver is a bit more fabulous. Gosick was also nice, but there are times when I felt things are too convenient. Mawaru PenguinDrum still did not make much sense to me, although it is equally if not more fabulous. And oh, Hanasaku Iroha, there is a lot of potential, but just potential.
*Kami-sama no Memo-chou (awesome story)
*Ano Hana (long name , Something About flowers and Not remembering them)
*Ben-to (fan service 8)(an awesome story about starving) & Just for the LOLZ
*Blood-c (mindfuck)
*GOSICK (i jwastt wike The packt Dat GOTHIC=GOSICK)
Bakuman? Isn’t that series still ongoing?
Season 2 is on-going right now and started this season, but the previous was in the Spring+Summer season I believe 🙂
its the second season , so its different
Correct. You would be voting for season one.
i only really felt strongly about steins;gate and anohana but i also liked madoka, 30-sai(no one seems to care about) and baka test(so funny)
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector
NO.6
– – –
Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa
Break Blade (movies 3-6)
I wish I could vote x5 for Steins;Gate
Good god it was hard to pick just 5 shows for 2011 for me. I haven’t seen so many of the titles and so many more do I plan on seeing still, so I had to go off of just what I’ve seen.
No. 6: Because it’s a return to the classic, chilling-yet-thought-provoking sci-fi I love so much and haven’t seen done so effectively in years. It was emotionally powerful and wonderfully written. My only complaint is that it was so short. I wanted to learn more about Rat, Sion, and the enigmatic city of No. 6.
Madoka: I know a lot of people will choose this one, but I’m of the minority that believes just because something’s popular doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve it. Madoka was unique, memorable, shocking, haunting, and yet undeniable human.
Mawaru Penguindrum: Symbolism, societal and psychological commentary beyond mere bhuman comprehension. It’s been a lot of fun, and a lot of “what the hell is going on!?” I can honestly say I have no earthly idea how it will end.
UN-GO: In a similar vein to No. 6, my biggest gripe with this one is its short run. I want more of it. The modern world politics commentary, the examination of the human condition, and the down-and-dirt detective mysteries provide one helluva good time.
Lastly, Index II: Oh how I love the uniqueness of this series. Despite some characters or plot devices that nigh drove me up a wall, the overall chemistry between most of the cast, and the dynamic interplay of science, magic, and underworld ideologies just grabbed me and never let me go. I’m already desperate to own both seasons on DVD and am praying for a season 3 to be announced. What’s more, I’m campaigning to get the Index manga and light novels brought to the states. Hopefully by monetarily supporting the Railgun manga that can help drum up interest.
Going through that list made me realize what a bad year for anime it was for me. Just seems like more serious shows are in such short supply. It’s not a big deal, but not much really hit the sweet spot for me, happy for others that found a lot to like.
My five votes went to:
Usagi Drop – Definitely the feel-good series of the year for me. Every new episode brought a smile to my face. Nothing is better than the pure enjoyment of a series.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai – My favorite comedy of the season, and one that hopefully gets a second season. Comedy is definitely my favorite genre, and Haganai beat out Yuruyuri, Mayo Chiki, BakaTest, Ben-To, and others as my favorite for the season. There was a perfect mixture of fanservice, slapstick, perversion (thank you Rika), and just a hint of drama to keep the story moving on.
AnoHana – The drama series of the season. While there were some weak moments here and there, the overall experience was pretty visceral in how they picked the characters apart and tore down the walls between them all. The best part was that the ending didn’t mean everything was all rainbows and sunshine; the characters still had their flaws, but were finally learning how to live with them. That resonated with me pretty strongly.
The World God Only Knows II – This choice is really all about my dedication to the manga and how well done the anime adaptation has been. The comedy and romance were every bit as great as the first season, and Kanae Itou is just precious voicing Elsie. SO CUTE.
THE IDOLM@STER – Cute girls doing cute things, and they perform music. It worked for me in K-ON!, and it worked again here. The best part was how much the series made me care about the girls and their problems. The last few episodes came completely out of nowhere and really cemented this show as one of the best of the year. My favorite idol was Hibiki by a large margin. ^_^
I also wanted to peg NO. 6 as my disappointment for the season. Every episode felt so ridiculous because of the inane dialogue and predictable character interactions. The worst part is that the story felt like it was building and building and building… and suddenly there was one episode left, and I wondered how they would be able to end the show with so much to wrap up. Well, it ended pretty poorly, as the ending felt completely rushed and there was still a lot left unexplained. With a few more episodes to provide a more sensible conclusion, NO. 6 might have been able to at least have a good ending, but the series still would have been pretty bad because of all the problems in the preceding episodes.
just wondering, where are the Usagi Drop OVAs?
nvm, ignore my comment (saw Divine’s reply to the other similar questionins
Is there anything more overrated than Madoka?
Got my vote:
-Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen
-Steins;Gate
-Mawaru Penguindrum
-STAR DRIVER: Kagayaki no Takuto
-IdolM@ster
I forgot to add SRW.
OVAS/Movies
-Colorful
-HELLSING VIII
Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa maybe
Break Blade (movies 3-6) Even if they fucked it up
Show Spoiler ▼
Hanasaku is more overrated imo. I don’t think slice of life excuses terrible character development.
Completely agree. I can’t believe all the people eating it up and placing it in their top 5 lists!
1. Madoka Magica
2. Ano Hana
3. Usagi Drop
4. Hanasaku Iroha
5. Natsume yuujinchou san
Most of them are slice of life, this year is a decent year for anime. Nothing really standout , just few like steins gate, madoka magica which are very good, but not brilliant
There’s a severe lack in Super Robot Wars! Even if its not on the top 10 list, is there anyone here who’s watched it and enjoyed it?
*raises hand*
*raises hand too*
yup ppl forgot it
I think it was action of the year or so
good anime with alot of action and mecha
I really had a hard time choosing 5, but for totally opposite reasons this year (and probably last year as well). Just not many good enough anime out there.
In the end, settled on
Mawaru Penguindrum
Stein’s:Gate
Usagi Drop
UN-GO
Working!!
Winner for me would probably be Usagi Drop.
Oh, for OVA/Movie: Mardock Scramble x 5
Please choose the best answer.
ANIME OF THE YEAR!
a) Steins Gate
b) Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
A or B? 🙂
c) Usagi Drop 😉
The voting is heating up!
Before reading the comments I would have guessed that the top three would be a fight among Steins;Gate, Madoka and Ano Hana (based on overall buzz etc. – they are the only 2011 shows listed under “Popular Series” on RC for a reason); but at this point I am predicting that Steins;Gate and Madoka will go ahead-to-ahead for the first place with Ano Hana placing third.
Predicting the rest is much harder; Tiger & Bunny generated a lot of buzz this year, but RC did not cover it placing it at a disadvantage. Several people seem to be voting for Mawaru Penguindrum and Usagi Drop, but in my opinion both series are more likely to be voted by people who posted rather than the mass of non-posting voters. We shall see!
It is also interesting to notice that Madoka dominated the year for the Japanese audience and critics (broke BD/DVD sales records, won most awards and polls so far…), but the mahou shoujo genre is traditionally better received by Japanese anime otaku compared to western anime fans.
I cannot wait to see the final results!
IT’S A PIIIINCH!
I had a set of criteria for my votes. 1)The story had to be complete or as complete as possible given the material available. 2)I had to enjoy both the OP and ED as part of the story. 3)It had to hit an emotional and mental level, having few flaws, in my mind, that took it down any notches.
5) AnoHana: As an anime first, the story was complete. It was compelling to watch, and thou it had some rough character spots, I found that it didn’t diminish the whole of the story. I loved the OP so much I bought Galileo Galilei’s entire catalog; discovering a great band is such a treat. The ED was a just so darn sweat. Toradora spoiled me for the principle voice actresses doing vocals for the EDs, so this charted pretty high on my love list. Plus, it was nice to discover that Secret Base had such history. The animation was crisp, and the character design was well done if not perfect for the slice of life drama it did. Why it isn’t my number one pick? “Menma this and Menma that”…. can we just shoot this trope in the face? To end on a positive note; I would really like to visit Chichibu. The idea of traveling half way across the planet to see a place that is as familiar as where I grew up in the States is just a keen idea.
4)Tomodachi: Oh sweat sweat Tomodachi, you hit every one of my perverse spots with such dignity and humor. This one goes against my OP/ED criteria, but with a character like Rika, it can be forgiven. Favorite part? Sooooo spoiled for choice. But, I will choose. Train linkage…enough said. Why it didn’t make number one? Two f’ing short. This one deserved 24 eps, don’t care if it would exceed the the original material. Dammit. I want more Sena and Kobato action…..
3)Hanasaku Iroha: This show took me by surprise. I only caught up to it recently. I had some time on my hands, so went looking round for something to watch. It caught my eye. It actually caught my eye when it came out, but I dismissed it for some reason or other. I watched it in binges over a few days. I loved it from the start. Really, for me: Forget Houma, forget Rika, forget Himari….and Lord Above please protect me…forget Taiga Aisaka (oh she will hunt me down and hurt me). Ohana is my favorite character. Period. I really can’t tell you why. I think it’s because there is enough of her in all of us. We all want to make the best of where we are and what we have. And yes, “Fest it up” is such a silly teenager thing to say. But it works for me. Only one other show beats up my love of both the OP and ED’s and that is Mawaru Penguindrum. But, I bought all I could find for nano.RIPE. Yumenji (the 26th episode ED) really rocks my socks. Why it isn’t number one? Well, MW takes all the cake.
2)Madoka. Hype? It had it in spades. Does it deserve the hype? That’s up to you. But for me, that hype was a gamble on Studio Shafts part, and it looks like it payed off for them. We can argue that until the cows come home….But if they set out to make a great series that would make them money. Well, they succeed. It was not an easy watch, this show. When asked to describe it, tongue in check, I called it Horrible Things Happen to Young Girls that Might Not Deserve it…But Your Going to Watch it Despite That. Why it isn’t number one? I give you my first choice…
1)Mawaru Penguindrum. It’s Friday as I write this. I could be watching another episode of this show. But it ended. This series was in turns, playful, deadpan, amusing, heartfelt, and just so gut wrenching. Case in point. Around Ep 21 I want to stop. I couldn’t take it. The pain these characters were going thru was too much for me. But i couldn’t. I recall back in the day, around the 71st issue of Sandman, knowing it was coming to and end, having collected that series since it came out, that I didn’t want to read anymore, because I could not face the end of something I came to love; that it had power. Yeah. We could go on an on about the metaphors and symbolism. But at the end of the show, it was all about how we come to love each other, and how love is made of sacrifices. I can’t watch this show anymore. I got over the end of Sandman. I’ll get over this. But, it’s Friday. I could be watching this show some more.
Why is it number one? Because it took me by surprise. From the initial depreciation I was all, “Meh”. But while surfing YOUtube,that site recommended a clip of Rock Over Japan. I watched it. I was hooked. It was four episodes in at that point. I was hooked.
REDLINE > all
But Steins;Gate was pretty good too.
Well I managed to watched about 35 shows,with about 20 about to be finished.
My top 5 was pretty easy.
1. Madoka Magica
2. Steins;Gate
3. Nichijou (haters gonna hate)
4. Anohana
5. MawaruPenguindrum
In no particular order:
AnoHana
Steins;Gate
Madoka
Working`!!
Ben-to
Anime
– Kore wa Zombie Desu ka ?
– Infinite Stratos
– C:The Money of Soul
– GoSick
– R-15
Movies
– Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa
– Kampfer fur die Liebe
I have only watched 13 completed anime series this season.
For me the best was: To Aru Majutsu no Index II
I have not watched redline but does it have anything to do with one piece?
I know I can do a google search but I am kind of lazy at the moment.
One piece is probably my best anime of all time.
Man I can not tell what is happening in your post, but you had me cracking up for a good minute so thanks.
A little surprised reading through the comments that hardly anyone has chosen GOSICK. It was a really good show, and it did have the occasional downs, it was still really great. Oh well.
My votes definitely are for:
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica — I mean, who knew this show was going to be so amazing? Even I was hesitant to watch it, but I did because I’m a sucker for cute animation and the voice actresses. Come episode 3, I was completely devoted. I waited in anticipation very week for each episode to come out. This one’s going to be my number one anime for a while.
Usagi Drop — I didn’t even watch this when it aired. When it got to air episode 7, I was like,” what the heck, let’s watch it.” I was glad I did. Because of it, I’m reading the manga (although very slowly) and the show is pretty true to it. This little show brought me smiles each episode. It’s definitely a sweet anime and I loved it. Rin FTW!
GOSICK — Because as I said above, it was a great anime. I watched right when it aired, and though it started to waver towards the end, but the final episodes totally brought it back up. The interactions between Kujo and Victorique were funny and endearing to watch, and the murder mysteries mixed with fairytales were just superb.
Ano Hana — I knew I was going to watch this one from the beginning, and it did not disappoint. Who knew it would get me teared up from the very first episode? Although it was only 11 episodes, it completely touched my heart. I was sobbing and crying so hard, my gosh, there are no words to explain how beautiful this anime was.
IDOLM@STER — Now with this one, I didn’t watch it until episode 20 was aired. Divine spoke highly of it, so I decided it was worth a shot. And I am so happy I did! This I didn’t even consider to watch, and it skyrocketed up my favorite list. Chihaya’s arc just made it all the more awesome and the characters really wormed themselves into my heart.
Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa HANDS DOWN!!!! (sorry for shouting ^_^)
1.IS:Infinite Stratos
2.Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka
3.Kami-sama Dolls
4.Kami-sama no memo chou
5.C:The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Movies:
1. Macross Frontier:Sayonara no Tsubasa
Looking back, it seems that this was a pretty good year for anime for me – of course, there are the ‘this year was terrible’ detractors, but they’re always saying that. My personal top five ended up as:
Gah, can someone delete this? I must’ve accidentally hit submit before finishing. Thanks. ;P
1. MPMM – This show revitalized anime for me. Damn you Kyuubi.
2. PenguinDrum – The symbolism in this show and art redirection makes this an easy favorite amongst others.
3. Tiger N Bunny – I was a bit torn that Randomc didn’t blog this. This was one of the clear top contenders in 2011.
4. SG – This is just plain too good not be included.
5. C – Honestly, although the show felt disjointed and a bit short, the ride was fantastic. There’s a lot to wish for in this anime, but I think this series have it’s own charms and the concept is pretty cool.
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon is really good.. sadly it requires viewers have a certain IQ level to figure out what is going on
Looking back, it seems that this was a pretty good year for anime for me – of course, there are the ‘this year was terrible’ detractors, but they’re always saying that. My personal top five (TV series, as I tend not to watch many OVAs/movies) ended up as:
1. Madoka Magica – Yes, it’s mainstream, and it was ridiculously hyped, but for once I can see the reason for that. The plot was constantly interesting, it made good use of its short airtime, the characters were intriguing and the art and music were beautiful. I won’t call it perfect, but I do think that this was an incredible show, and being able to watch and theorise as it aired only added to that feeling.
2. Steins;Gate – After a little bit of a slow start, the plot of Steins;Gate became truly gripping; and that’s coming from someone who usually ignores Sci-fi altogether (I didn’t even try starting S;G up until about the eighth episode). The characters were great, and Okabe in particular was my favourite protagonist of the year for his development, depth and individuality. El Psy Congroo!
3. Tiger and Bunny – This was another one that came into my favourites unexpectedly, as I went from sceptically looking at the previews, to liking the first few episodes, to being hooked by the rest of the show. The character cast was interesting and well-rounded, but the unique setting is what made this show really stand apart from others this year.
4. Ano Hana – I’m a sucker for a well-written drama, and Ano Hana proved to be no exception to this. It was solid from start to finish, and, despite edging a little too far into melodrama at points, was perhaps able to instil a stronger sense of emotion in me than any other show this year.
5. Mawaru Penguindrum – Now, I must mention that I haven’t yet finished Penguindrum, but it regardless earns this last spot in my top five anime of 2011. The nuances of the characters work together incredibly well, the plot remains constantly interesting and the pacing flows naturally, all while weaving in enough symbolism to hint at future plot twists while not giving them away entirely or taking up too much of the series. Seizon Senryaku!
Honourable mentions go to Chihayafuru, Fairy Tail and Mirai Nikki for – each in their different ways – being great shows that are yet to finish, as well as to Gosick, Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season, Idolmaster and Working’!! for being well-made, entertaining shows that didn’t quite make it into my top five.
TV:
1. Steins Gate
2. Star Driver
3. Mawaru Penguindrum
4. Kimi ni Todoke 2nd
5. Nichijou
OVA/Movie:
1. Colorful
2. Black Lagoon Roberta’s Blood Trail
3. Break Blade
4. Yozakura Quartet Hoshi no Umi
5. Carnival Phantasm
Mine would be…
TV: Ano Hana, Usagi Drop, Hourou Musuko, Tiger and Bunny, Hanairo
OVA/Movies: Carnival Phantasm, Black Lagoon, Gundam Unicorn, Macross Frontier Movie, Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
Special Mention:
Moshidora
I feel that Madoka will win this though… Or at least one of the highest…
No Dragonball episode of Bardock? 🙁
Looking back on this year, this has to be one of the top years for anime for the past few years, not in terms of an anime which will become an absolute favourite, but one where the overall quality has been quite impressive.
As such, although we can only select a top 5 from the above list, I want to list down my top 10 of the year. These are the series which has kept me coming back for more time and time again:
1) Hanasaku Iroha
Yes, I have rated this as the top of the year, though i know many will dispute. Animation quality is superb and the bgm fits it very well. Let’s face it, who felt the absolute need to stay in a Ryokan ASAP after watching this series? Ohana is one of my favourite characters of the year as well. In all series I’ve seen this year, this one probably has the best message – be who you can be, and no matter what life throws at you, give it your all and you won’t have regrets.
2) Ano Hana
I felt this series started to run out of steam near the end. There were also plenty of loopholes and facepalm moments, but if you could look past all of those, this series is one one of the most touching of the year. It is the only series this whole year which brought tears to my eyes. The struggles of youth and the feelings of guilt, this is all about letting go of your past, learning to accept what has happened, and moving on in life.
3) Madoka
This series is definitely overrated, but none the less is definitely one of the standouts for the year, if just for shock value. Episode 3 will forever stay in our minds whenever “Magical Girls” are brought out. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that this series redefines the genre, but I would say that this is definitely as dark as Magical Girl anime can go. Homura will win my award for the most badass Mahou Shoujo ever! I mean come on, that fight scene in episode 11 was the most epic fight I have seen this year. Awesome background animation and background music further adds to the impact Madoka would have left on many.
4) Working’!!
I loved Working!!. I love Working’!! even more. After Nichijou, I was certain that no other series would come close to topping it for one of the best comedy series of the year. However, the cast of Working’!!, regular or new-comers, makes this series one of the most entertaining of the year. And to think that majority of the series is set in the restaurant, and yet I never get bored.
5) Nichijou
While some of the jokes fell flat on their faces, those that this series has gotten right are downright epic. Wieners anyone? Nano, Hakase and Mio are the standout characters, but some of the minor ones are awesome as well…”EHHHHHHHHH!?!”
6) Stein’s;Gate
I had a very tough time deciding between this and Nichijou, but then decided to go for Nichijou on the basis of “which series kept me wanting more?” and I decided Nichijou just edged Stein’s;Gate out. It is an awesome series that felt a lot like a crossover between Dr Who and Butterfly Effect. While it was necessary to build on the character’s relationships in the first half, I did find it slightly on the boring side. The second half changed my opinion of the show dramatically, and I’m glad I decided to stay with the series the whole way though.
7) Idolm@ster
This was a series I thought I would drop in a heartbeat, but decided to watch the first few episodes to see how this series would turn out to be. The unorthodox first episode piped by interest, and it was smooth sailing from that point on. This series turned out to have significantly more depth than I ever imagined, as I thought this would end up being just another moeblob anime. Chihaya’s arc is one of the most touching arcs in any anime series this year. All the little quirks of each character was brought to life which made pretty much all the characters lovable.
8) Usagi Drop
Who wants a daughter that is exactly like Rin? I wonder how many couples decided to try for babies after watching this series. Probably one of the most adorable series this year that makes parenthood not seem as daunting.
9) Tiger and Bunny
I loved the first half, but I felt the second half didn’t quite flow. It was interesting to see an anime take on a superhero series, something which I don’t see very often in anime. Tiger will win my award for the best male lead this year.
10) Boku Tomodachi…
Was a very difficult choice, but I would have to say that Tomodachi was one of the standouts of the year, with Yozora and Sena’s constant battles, Kobato and Maria’s battle for attention from Taka and the dodgy side of Rika. I felt the ending was very anticlimatic, which looking back on this series makes it seem more of a normal fanservice anime as I didn’t really get much else out from this series. Else, this would’ve been ranked a lot higher.
Honorable Mentions
Hourou Musuko
Moshidora (the only anime apart from AnoHana that brought me to tears)
Kore wa Zombie Desuka
Mawaru Penguindrum (would’ve made it into my top 10 if I knew what was going on half the time)
1. S;G
2. Anohana
3. UN-GO
4. Usagi drop
5, ikoku meiro no Croisée
Looking forward to the post as I prefer to marathon my way thro anime as opposed to watching em on a weekly basis, and Randomc has helped me pick up shows I’ve missed before
from my top five, madoka is going to make it for sure. but i really hope penguindrum and nichijou make it too.
Steins;Gate
Madoka
AnoHana
These three are more than enough for me.
How come Fate/Zero or Guilty Crown aren’t on the poll?
Oh wait, just read it. Sorry, lol.
Wow, I only watched… 24 anime? That feels so little.Granted I didn’t finish a lot of them, only got halfway through so I’m not counting them. Also I guess it doesn’t count anime that I watched this year but weren’t released this year but still, I wouldn’t break 30 I think…
I feel like a nub ._.;
Divine, how do you do it? I’m actually curious what your daily ritual is, it’s like you got more hours in the day than the rest of us! ^.^
1. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
2. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
3. Mawaru Penguindrum
4. Steins;Gate
5. TIGER & BUNNY
In no particular order. Took me a while to narrow it down, from the starting 24 I got to 16 that could have been in the top five, then i got to about 10 after narrowing it down further. I REALLY wish we could pick 10, Divine, because just five series feels like I’m not doing the other ones justice. Not giving a spot to Un-Go, Hanasaku Iroha, Star Driver,usagi drop, or Kami-sama Dolls feels soooo wrong. But if I gotta give it to five those five would have to be it! I had to take EVERYTHING into account, and under closer inspection some of those minor gripes ultimately dropped them from the top 5.
Too all the Writers here at RC, Happy New Year, hope you all have a great year for anime, I can’t wait to read about it!
Seeing a lot of divers ‘top fives,’ here. Which it good, it mean that things can continue to be diverse, rather then get old and stale. Anyway, here is my top five. (in order they appeared on the list.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Dantalian no Shoka
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
UN-GO
Usagi Drop
*Mostly watched older series this year, so most are ones near the end of the year.
Honorable mention (if the list was top 10, these would be the other five. Once again in order they appeared on the list.)
STAR DRIVER: Kagayaki no Takuto
Steins;Gate
To Aru Majutsu no Index II
Sacred Seven
Yumekui Merry
Tough to choose:
Gosick,
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II,
Nichijou (II),
Shinryaku!? Ika Musume, and
Yuruyuri.
There were many good ones this season.
Didn’t watch many anime these year, so my votes are basically the few I managed to stick around to the end.
1. Infinite Stratos
2. Tiger and Bunny
3. Super Robot Taisen
I started watching Gosick, Freezing, and some other anime, but couldn’t stick with them to the end. Miserable years for me I guess :\.
Hahaha.. All y’all, who complain about certain bloggers dropping the series, do realize they had a lot of writing and putting thought into each anime episodes they were blogging. Some of them if not all have full time job too. Each complaints hurt 😛
So wait, did no one else but me like Index 2?
i liked it too…
I’m one of probably 4 that put Tamayura as one of their favorites. It’s my favorite behind Chihayafuru but I like what I can relate with and the gentle, even melancholic, nature of Tamayura really resonated with my soil. Quite cathartic and a very bitter sweet theme. Then Ano,Modaka,Nichijou and Working!! Good year I thought.
Anime:
Steins;Gate (CHRISTINA!!!)
Dantalian no Shouka (I liked it better than GoSick because it was a smart flick and had my favorite seiyuus)
KamiMemo (Doctor Pepe anyone?)
Fireball Charming (I have never laughed my ass off for a 5-10 min skits by Disney before)
No.6 (just cuz)
OAV
Redline (awesome visuals and soundtrack)
Gundam Unicorn
Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
Break Blade
Mardock Scramble (its like a reverse Metropolis but so much darker)
As a casual viewer, I voted for..
Madoka.
Baka To Test Ni.
Nichijou.
Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka.
Kami Nomi No Shiru Sekai II.
WFT?!
WHERE IS CHIHAYAFURU?
Read the rules. It’s not finished.
I don’t care!
Mawaru Penguindrum
Steins Gate
Level E
Star Driver
Natsume Yuujinchou San
1)Steins;Gate
2)Level E
3)Nichijou
4)Madoka
5)Yuruyuri
If I had one more slot… I’d add in Im@s.
For OVA… Very hard.. I watched very few OVAs this year….
Only Redline came to my mind..
Freezing!!
I love it
From me, The Moondoggie:
HAPPY NEW YEAR! FUCK YEAH!
Happy New Year everyone!!
My votes:
1) Steins; Gate (dramatic and heartwarming story, featuring my favorite main character of the year, mad scientist Rintaro Okabe)
2) Madoka (unusual magical girl series)
Those were the standout series for me, while 3-5 weren’t that easy to decide, but I went with Infinite Stratos (well done harem/fanservice comedy), Index Season 2 (Mikoto + Touma!) and surprisingly also Horizon which started somewhat boring due to its nature (a lot of talking), but ended on a very high note.
6th place would have been Anohana.
Did Last Exile: Fam not get put on the tv series list?
Read the rules. It’s not finished airing.
Happy New Year!
Definitely I would say my favorites of 2011 are
1) Steins Gate
2) Madoka
3) Level E
4) Un-GO
5) Ben-To
OVAs
1-REDLINE
2-Mardock Scramble
3-Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
4-???
5-???
We talk about how anime is deteriorating and stuff but 3/4 of the anime this year I actually enjoyed. Twas a Hard Poll
ERU PUSAI CONGAROO!
C: The Money of Soul and Possiblity Control
Ao No Exorcist
FREEZING
Uta No Prince Sama
UN-GO
😀 There were loads more good ones, but these ones stuck out to me
Meduka
Steins Gate
top 2 considering their in almost every post here
but it was Madoka Magica for awesomeness from start to finish
im sad to see not alot of ppl mentioning Kore wa Zombie desu ka, tiger and bunny, Ben-To, C:The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
im suprised not alot of IS: Infinite Stratos, To Aru Majutsu no Index II and at all the mentions for deadman wonderland i thought is wasnt that great as a anime but oh well
Id like to give a shout to blood c as i enjoyed the story very much aND its the BLOOD i pretty much imagined a title called BLOOD should be and also the world only god know qas the anime was great and we’ll probably never see another season “;cry;”
wellshame C was my 6th on list
for IS you shouldny even bring that up not saying word about Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector that show had it all girls mecha and action…
what goes for To Aru Majutsu no Index II it didnt bring nothing new and I felt kind of disapointment with lack of stary main line in most of its eps
ah and sorry for all those writing mistakes and I m not drunk
[C] has people generally either love it or hate it, so that’s why it isn’t mentioned much. For me, I hated it. It definitely wasn’t my type of show. It really depends on who you ask, since there are a few who absolutely loved it.
I’ve seen a few people mention Kore wa Zombie and Tiger&Bunny (I know I voted for Zombie) though, since they were really strong shows. 🙂
Oh! Forgot what I wanted to mention. Blood-C’s series was actually a prequel to the movie that’s going to come out soon for it, if I’m remembering right. It’s kind of like how Eden of the East was.
Madoka, Usagi Drop, AnoHana, STEINS;GATE, and HanaIro for me (yep, went with it despite the lesser 2nd half)
But strong contenders included Kami-sama Dolls, Ikoku Meiro, and WORKING’!!
Damn good year, forgot how many of these shows actually aired in 2011
Oh snap! Just finished going on a Madoka run after reading comments about it being in the Top 5. That was amazing!! I need to recast my votes.
Hmm…2011 is a very good anime year for me, let’s see:
Completed anime (just for the year 2011):
TV: 42 (31 included in RC poll, the rest from previous years/backlog)
OVA: 76
Movie: 29
Specials: 18
ONA: 5
Total: 170
For full entertainment and enjoyment value, I voted for the following TV series:
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (personal rating is 9.8/10)
Mashiroiro Symphony (8.8/10)
Usagi Drop (9.0/10)
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (8.0/10)
Boku Ha Tomodachi ga Tsukunai (8.4/10)
anime:
1. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
2. IS Infinite Stratos
3. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
4. Mayo Chiki!
the fifth choice was a hard one for me so many other good anime but in the end i just enjoy
5. Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector more than any other.
Ova:
1. Break Blade (movies 3-6)
2. Carnival Phantasm
3. Koe de Oshigoto! take.2
4. Kampfer fur die Liebe
There are more on same lvl but
5. Yozakura Quartet ~Hoshi no Umi~ (eps 2-3) win out in the end for me.
REDLINE and HELLSING = STRAIGHT MOTHERF&#KING CRACK!!!!!
bleach movie was pretty tight too.
Wow I guess I am the lone dark horse that picked everything relaxing for this season:
1# pick because each week I look forward to it;
Natsume Yuujinchou san
2# The series that I was very surprise by how much I teared up for;
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
3# A cute kid and a devoted father figure that makes me smile;
Usagi Drop
4# A girl who is full of flaws but has a lot of determination;
Hanasaku Iroha
5# Ikoku meiro no croisse
Because it is interesting to see how east and west learn how to cope together
Movies: Hoshi wo ou Kodomo
Star Driver because it’s so FAAAAAAABULOOOOUUUS!
1. Madoka
2. Madoka
3. Madoka
4. Madoka
5. Steins
My vote.
Are people honestly putting IS as their top anime of this season… the season which exploded with quality anime?
They are putting the bar rather low for the 4 others…
Break Blade and Unicorn movies for OVA, SO GOOOOD!!
So did the IS OVA come in a DVD? Is that why it’s not on the poll?
Voted for Mawaru Peguindrum, Ikoku no Meiro Croisee, Tiger & Bunny, Steins Gate, & Natsume Yuuijinchou San.
If Chihayafuru had been eligible I would have voted for that over Natsume. Natsume will always be one of my favorite franchises but I think it has reached that point where it is comfortable familiarity that as much as I loved the 3rd season (as much as the previous two) I now forget about it when it comes to listing my favorites of the year since Natsume just is if that makes sense.
Anyways honorable mentions for me would be Madoka, Ano Hana, Usagi Drop and 1st season of Fate Zero.
Overall 2011 was an excellent year for anime!
This year, it seems that the battle for the No.1 is between Steins;Gate and Madoka Magica XD.
If not for Dunoa-kun, I wouldnt have voted for Infinite Stratos….. :))
That’s Charlotte-san….
WTF? Who are you?
ok here’s my top 5 of the year
1. steins;gate (just epic)
2. Anohana (good feeling)
3. The World God Only Knows s2(my role model) Can’t wait for season 3!
4. Working!!(like the characters and just funny show)
5. Kamisama dolls(Really good anime especially towards 2nd half of series)
In total I finished maybe 10 anime’s out of 40 i started.
Now there’s a lot of different list with different set of values, people are rating their top 5 due to how much they personally enjoyed the series and others are basing their list critically, such as voice acting, quality animation, story etc etc etc
Obviously the 2 are different things (unless you happen to only enjoy critically great anime) but to try and and avoid a wall of text, I’ll do my list based on my enjoyment but the reason for these few short words is to make it clear that there is a DIFFERENCE between the two and to induce any rage from others.
Top 5 Series
1.Hanasaku Iroha
2.Steins ; Gate
3.Working’!!
4.Penguindrum
5.Natsume
There are a lot of other top class anime out there but there’s too many to mention but still 2011 was a good year all round that catered to all taste
top 5:
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Infinte Stratos
Baka To Test II
Yuru Yuri
Boku Ha Tomodachi Ga Sukunai
1. Steins;Gate
2. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
3. Idolm@ster
4. Ano Hana
5. Hanasaku Iroha
1. Haganai
2. Madoka
3. Baka to Test
4. Ano Hana
5. IS
Ah, you added xxxHOLiC OVA. I already voted but I only voted for REDLINE then so if I re-vote and add xxxHOLiC, will it count? ó_ò
Voted for:
1. Natsume Yuujinchou San
2. Steins;Gate
3. Tiger & Bunny
4. Ano Hana
5. Hourou Musuko
The rest of my top ten:
6. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
7. Usagi Drop
8. Mawaru PenguinDrum (haven’t finished it though)
9. Level E
10. Ao no Exorcist
Gah…there was more I liked than I could vote for… =(
Mostly everyone’s voted for AnoHana, Steins;Gate and Madoka.
I have a feeling that AnoHana might have defeated the other two while Steins;Gate might come second.
It’s just a feeling………..
I wonder why Kamisama no Memo-chou, my favorite of the year wasn’t there on mostly everyone’s voting list.
I would like opinions on why it wasn’t worth it.
From most people’s comment I realized that the only worthy anime series I didn’t watch was Level E.
Another feeling I have is the victory of Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo just ahead of REDLINE, Carnival and Macross all of them I didn’t watch.
Just for info, basically to brag:
I was/am able to watch 22 series in Fall 2011, though some are from the earlier season.
I don’t know what is a spoiler in my comment so forgive me if there is one, just in case.
One of the reasons KamiMemo may not be widely chosen is that it is the 3rd Detective-girl show of the year (Dantalian and GoSick). In my opinion, people got sick of the genre by the time GoSick finished (some called Dantalian a copy of GoSick, etc.), and a slightly moe-otaku NEET detective was only there to suck up on the detective girl drama. I have seen all three and I favored Dantalian and KamiMemo over GoSick because they actually had substance (plot and how the characters were handled). Of course, many will disagree, but the main characters (male and female) actually had “life” compared to the reversal of strong female, weak male in GoSick.
Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo will most likely win, because it was geared towards the visual, like Redline. Yet, Redline was pretty daring that it used off the wall animation (like the TV anime Kaiba of 2008) and is a turn-off for those not likely to accept anything other than the current animation scheme. Even though I voted for it also, Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo was pretty slow and would pick up just when you were about to give up on the show only to be led back down again.
Thanks.
That was really helpful.
Oops I forgot………..
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May we be blessed with better and far more amazing anime series in the upcoming year!
My Votes
Anime
1. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
2. Ben-To
3. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds
4. Hidan no Aria
5. To Aru Majutsu no Index II
OVA/Movies
1. Gundam Unicorn
2. Carnival Phantasm
3. Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa
4. Yu-Gi-Oh! ~Chou-Yuugou! Jikuu wo Koeta Kizuna~
5. Sengoku Basara: The Last Party
1.Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
2.Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
3.Star Driver
4.Steins;Gate
5.Ano Hana
Let’s see…
(In no particular order)
Anime Series: Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, A-Channel, TIGER & BUNNY, and The iDOLM@STER!
Movies/OVAs: Gundam Unicorn, .hack//Quantum, Yozakura Quartet ~Hoshi no Umi~, and Carnival Phantasm!
2011 was the first full year I spent following anime and I want to think all of the RandomC bloggers and commentators for giving me new insights and perspectives on all sorts of shows in all sorts of genres! <3
Here's to another great year of anime! 🙂
I saw Heartcatch Precure on the poll. JSYK, Heartcatch ended this year and it was Suite that started this year.
Same for Inazuma Eleven. It ended this year but its sequel Inazuma Eleven GO started this year. (I also didn’t see Danball Senki? But I voted already, idk.)
I also think the two Pokemon movies should be one option…
My bad! Anime that ended this year, oops.
TV series
1)Un-GO (not enough love -_-)
2)Anohana
3)Horou Musuko (same as Un-Go)
4)Steins Gate
5)Penguindrum
love to put the rest but cant -_-
Movies
Arriety
xxxHolic Rou
Hack Quantum
Kyousogiga
Mardock Scramble
Easy picks. Penguindrum, Madoka, Steins Gate, Anohana.
Guys, there’s a troll who’s downvoting all replies that have Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica.
That just means the troll fell for the downvote trap to waste his time. A better troll would have used his time to proxy fake votes and gotten the last laugh.
well sh** its Shin
It just shows that it’s this year’s top contender:
Just think: Great Goddess of Hope vs Mad Time Traveling Scientist, M.U.G.E.N. style…
Oh man. This will rock the multiverse for sure.
That likes and dislike is useless for this voting
Is the story that good? I’ll try watch if I have time :]
Puella Magi Madoka Magica did for Mahou Shoujo the way Neon Genesis Evangelion did for Mecha. I highly suggest you watch it. You will never look at Magical Girls the same way again.
To the troll downvoting replies laced with Madoka Magica: don’t waste your time, okay?
hahahahahahaha
I didn’t bother to watch it bcoz’ its about magical girls… but with the recommendations stated including yours I think I’ll give it a shot… thanks by the way…:]
looking forward to a good year!
Utena 2: Electric Boogaloo was clearly the best show of the year, followed by Gen Urobuchi’s heart growing three sizes.
I vote for Dog days as anime you should have seen but never watched lol its was funny as hell and pure action
To aru majutsu no index 2 best so far
anohana was a bit short and would have benefited from more character devleopment and less plot rushing but was nevertheless simple but beautiful of a drama..GOSICK’s ending was disappointing and also rushed but that was only because the series as a whole was soo damn good that it set such high expectations for the ending! Anohana and GOSICK get my votes this year!
My vote of favorite animes in order:
1. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
2. STAR DRIVER: Kagayaki no Takuto
3. Moshidora (full title: Moshi Koukou Yakyuu no Joshi Manager ga Drucker no Management wo Yondara)
4. Bakuman
5. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
With regret, I did not vote for any “second season” series, as I think it is more important to recognize the first-time productions. Series like Ika, Kaiji, God Only Knows, Natsume still live up to expectation. Even though some others, like Index, have declined a bit.
I think Magica has a good chance to win this year. Star Driver has the potential to settle for other high ranks. Bakuman is still on-going. But I think it should be clear by now that this anime is packed with drama and deserves high recognition. I also like Moshidora for its “book smart” and its gentle approach to presenting ideas, something rare in the current market. Anohana gets lower rank simply because I personally can’t stand sad stories. Its overall quality is excellent nonetheless.
My vote of favorite OVAs in order:
1. Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
2. Bleach Movie: Jigoku-hen
3. Tales of Symphonia THE ANIMATION: Tethe’alla-hen
4. .hack//Quantum
5. Kyousougiga
Here Hoshi is another fine production from Shinkai Makoto. The middle three votes are just commercial products that suit my strong bias towards scifi/fantasy. Kyousougiga has cult-like elements that survive mostly on OVA releases. I gave it a chance here.
personally, maybe because I read the novel first, but seeing the anime of Moshidora was a disappoint. It had my all star cast in there, but I couldn’t watch past episode 1. I did like the theme song though.
Even actually wrote a fan letter to the author saying I liked his book much more than the anime and hopes to see new works soon.
Great selection of anime there..
Wow it was a good year. I look forward to the results. Some of the shows on here I completely forgot even came out this year.
I am pretty sure the top of the list are:
Anime:
-Steins;Gate
-Madoka
-Deadman Wonderland
-Infinite Stratos
-Tiger & Bunny
OVA:
-Hellsing
-Black Lagoon
Not familiar with the rest…
Why wasn’t Tekken: Blood Vengeance I on the list, Divine? It was a badass movie…Graphic was off the wall, too.
My top 5:
1) Stein’s Gate (already been said why)
2) Madoka Magica (same as 1)
3) Penguindrum (Though I wish I wasn’t as confused throughout most of it, it was a fun series to toy and theorize with)
4) Nichijou (I was very surprised; great quality for a gag anime.)
5) Hanasaku Iroha – 5th was a tough choice, though I ultimately went with Hanasaku Iroha. Despite its various flaws, it always looked great and I loved several of the characters, even if others didn’t.
Runner-ups:
Anohana – Though it was decent, I felt it wasn’t as amazing as everyone seems to be labeling it as. Imho, it needed to be 12 or 13 episodes long to properly tell its story. Poppo and Tsuruko really needed more background, which were quite pitiful compared to the amount of attention Yukiatsu and Anaru received.
Haganai – Simple, clean harem-like fun. I liked it a bit better than IS.
Ikoku Meiro no Croisee – This received much less attention than it could have. It had nice drama throughout much of its run and managed to mix in many light hearted moments. Also had Yune going for it, who was my top 3rd character of the season (behind Ohana and Yukko).
Ah, almost forgot Moshidora. It used its 10 episodes wisely and managed to make me shed a tear, something Anohana couldn’t do.
Usagi drop, Kamisama no memochou could have been longer (more season to come?) but otherwise exercuted beautifully in the avaliable episode.
Madoka, Madoka, Madoka, how could have we forgot. For those who still haven’t watched it, you should. It started out as a mascot granting the heroine a wish and returns graining magical power, a classic “mahou shoujo” setup but as the story progress, the fighting scence getting more violent and elegant at same time, then the “dark side” was reveal little and little… the finishing touches was in one hand, a big shocker, but in the other, a heart warming and tear-jerking, and let us not forgot the OP/EP ~connect~ by CalriS.
One thing though, what happened to Suite precure?
oohh, my bad suite precure not finished… I knew it…
and I too second for 10 votes vs 5 votes, if then I could have voted for anoExo, StarDriver, Bokuwa Tomodachi, AnoHana, Hiden no Aria…
Suite Precure didn’t finish in 2011. It replaced Heartcatch Precure sometime in February. Even if it did finish, Heartcatch was a much better rendition of the Precure franchise and was the 2nd precure series I actually completed other than the first one. Suite Precure didn’t really have anything special going for it and I quit after ~25 episodes. (If it looks like I like the franchise too much, I’m really only making a tradition out of it by seeing how far I can watch the current series out before eventually dropping it)
Didn’t see the 2nd post. So tired. =_=
First place is Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo, scenery is very lovely. ^__^
Second is AnoHana, can’t forget that moment T__T.
Some other memorable are Carnival Phantasm, Tiger Bunny, HC Precure, Break Blade..
Oh, and I hate Steins Gate, I would place it 1st in worst anime poll, if there are any.. 😀 XD
too bad I couldn’t vote ;/
It’s a big expectation time
and there are big shows on the wheel,
like steins gate, anohana, madoka
Anyway I believe that the big champion will be steins gate, not that I like it the most but it’s interesting, diferent and the charactes have a unique charisma.
I’m waiting for result =)
There are so many that i like that it´s difficult to choose between them but to me To Aru Majutsu no Index remains as the best of the year. For the movie, I think Break Blade is the best of 2011. Happy New Year 2012 everyone!
So weird seeing Redline there since I saw it last year. I also was looking out for the FMA movie since I saw it this year… But yeah, definitely wouldn’t be fair to most people, so… XD
I kind of wish we could do ranked voting. This style reminds me of Bakuman. :p I had a really hard time picking my 5th vote. I feel bad for 6th and 7th place. XD
Here’s my ranked list (Top 10):
Steins;gate, Mawaru Penguindrum, Usagi Drop, Madoka Magika, Nichijou, Kimi ni Todoke S2, Star Driver, UN-GO, Wandering Son, Gosick.
yeah hard picks are 4th and 5th but 6th nd 7th just feel like I could have added them too
1. Steins;Gate
2. Hourou Musuko
3. Usagi Drops
4. Hanasaku Iroha
5. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
OVA:
1. Black Lagoon – Roberta’s Blood Trail
Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyou
IS Infinite Stratos
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni!
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
No particular order for my picks. Looking back, it really was a great year for anime, at least for my own enjoyment. Hopefully, this year will be just as promising!
TV:
– Steins;Gate
– Usagi Drop
– Hanasaku Iroha
– Ano Hana
– Madoka
Plenty more that I enjoyed, but this would probably be my top 5.
OVA:
– Black Lagoon
Only one that I watched, so I can’t really say much about the rest of the OVA/Movies.
Hi, Yang!
TV :
1. Steins;Gate
2. Madoka
3. Usagi Drop
4. Ano Hana
5. Kimi ni Todoke 2
If there were more, I would have voted for Hanasaku Iroha, Tegami Bachi Reverse, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Working’!!, Ao no Exorcist, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 1 and 2 (so a lot of second season …)
OAV/movies :
I only watched Bleach Jigokuhen but I don’t think it was the best …
I’ll only vote the anime that I watched towards the end:
FRACTALE, original (not adapted) + good ideas, on par with Shangri-la (a very good adaptation of a serious novelia, 2008)
GOSICK, adaptation of a novelia + fabulous character designs and fine details
Hanasaku Iroha, original + a slice of real life from a true high school perspective
STAR DRIVER, original + fun & good anime production
Mawaru Penguindrum, original + oh it’s a tough one to swallow (more serious style than its fan-service and comedic reliefs appear)
Honorary mention:
Nuramago: Thousand Years of Kyoto
TV:
1. Usagi Drop
2. Madoka Magica
3. Steins gate
4. Horou Musuko
5. Hanasaku Iroha
Honourable Mentions to Ano Hana, Chihayafuru, Ungo, Mawaru Penguindrum and Fate/Zero
Movies/OVAs (Didn’t watch much this year):
1. Colorful
2. Redline
3. Mardock Scramble: First Compression
4. Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo
5. Karigurashi no Arrietty
About the current sidebar poll:
I like the current format for shows that are being/will be covered, but I would also like first impression posts on shows that won’t be covered, like the original Snapshot posts. It would be nice if one of you would go over an impression of the first episodes of Kill Me Baby or InoXBoku SS, which are the only two shows that I have interest in that are not already going to be covered.
No.6
Sekaiichi Hatsukoi
Level E
Natsume
Starry Sky
#1 – Steins;Gate – This is the type of amazingly fun, over-the-top and serious series that i’ve been longing for. I wanted someone to remind me of Lelouch, and Okarin accomplished that easily. This series is memorable for me.
#2 – Madoka – This is the Shaft i want to see, not Bakemono’s Shaft. Creative, imaginative and really used the 12 episodes well. Episode 10 is a legend for what it accomplished in 24 minutes for Homura’s development.
#3 – Usagi Drop – Slightly better than Natsume in terms of slice of life, but i really digged the watercolor scenes before the OP played. Rin is adorable! But surprisingly i liked Kouki the most, idk why…
#4 – Natsume Yuujinchou San – Loved it more than season 2, great animation and focus on the human aspect of the story was a plus for sure.
#5 – The iDOLM@STER – This is a “Don’t judge a book by its cover” type of series. I have Yakusoku on repeat at the top of my playlist, all 7 minutes and 30 seconds of breathtaking talent.
Oh I wish I had more votes for anime ^^” I ended up only voting for 4 because I couldn’t choose which of the other anime I liked would make my top 5 pick.
Honourable Mentions (in no particular order):
IS Infinite Stratos, Usagi Drop, BakaTest 2, Kimi ni Todoke 2, Hanasaku Iroha, Tegami Bachi REVERSE, TIGER and BUNNY
My votes for anime of the year (In no particular order):
Steins;Gate – kept me riveted to my seat almost every episode, even during the beginning when they were just introducing characters and developing them.
Madoka Magica – was the most surprising anime i’ve seen in a while. i haven’t watched any magical girl series since Cardcaptor Sakura when i was little. the twists and turns this story had, and my love for Homura was just… “awwww” T.T
Star Driver – the ending felt like the most rushed “what on earth happened?!” moment ever (but then again, i had that feeling when i watched Code Geass R2 as well, and I still loved it). regardless of the ending and repetitive action sequences, i love mecha and i loved the maiden songs (me and my bias towards mecha, romance and music >.<). the characters were all very unique and easy to distinguish as well, and i overall just loved the romances brewing.
AnoHana – the only anime this season that had me crying for almost an hour when it ended. it may not have had a complex plot, or a creative one at that, but this anime strung together all the right scenes, music and character reactions to bring out a beautiful amount of nostalgia and emotion.
—
For OVAs (in no particular order):
Carnival Phantasm – the hilarity and overall nostalgia of watching Fate/Stay Night characters was just too good (Saber Lion!)
Tales of Symphonia (Tethe'alla Arc) – I am a huge Tales fan, especially ToS due to Lloyd and Colette. ufotable did amazing with the animation and I just loved all the character backstory they provided to us in the adaptation.
Gundam Unicorn – the plot thickens, and as usual, I enjoyed the many action sequences and political / character struggles in the series.
Top 5 Anime(In no particular order (Please don’t criticize my choices too much))
Steins;Gate: Played the game, watched the show, what’s not to love about this wonderful anime? El Psy Congroo.
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai: Quite a tearjerker, the story both original and captivating. Both the opening and the ending of the show fits well with the theme within the show. Very ‘Cute’ if you understand.
STAR DRIVER Kagayaki no Takuto: Bishōnen, bishōjo, a school on an island in the middle of nowhere, hanky-pan… Sorry I strayed off into my own fantasies. Beautiful pieces of music, awesome action and Mecha, a show truly worth singing out your youth to.
Hanasaku Iroha: Excellent execution of the plot, has a very realistic feel to it, each character has a distinctive personality that makes them original yet familiar to the viewers. A lovely budding flower.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: What sets this show apart from other mahou-shojo themed animes is that instead of focusing on the wonderful life after obtaining magical powers, Puella Magi Madoka Magica shows the costs of such powers. Very differnt from what you would expect.
Favorite Anime 2011:
1.Kami-sama no Memo-chou – Best anime series of the year
2.Hanasaku Iroha
3.Hourou Musuko
4.GOSICK
5.Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
Honourable Mentions to Dantalian no Shoka, Nichijou, Tamayura ~hitotose~
Favorite OVA/Movie 2011
1.Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo – Best movie of the year
2.Karigurashi no Arrietty
3.REDLINE
4.Break Blade
5.Towa no Quon
Honourable Mentions to HELLSING, Gundam Unicorn
(my choice may change when I will have the opportunity to watch Mardock Scramble and Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa)
A+,
Steins;Gate by far. Just pulled an all nighter watching it again…
El Phy Congroo.
1 – Steins;Gate
2 – Ano Hana
3 – Madoka
4 – Kamisama
5 – Others Animes O: