D-2: Top 10 Anime of 2011

I know I'm fairly limited in what I had to choose for this so consider this a 'best of what I've seen' rather than an absolute best of.  A list of what I've seen can be viewed here.

10. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukanai

I picked this series up 5 episodes in because I noticed the art was similar to Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko and I was pleasantly surprised. It was refreshing for me. What I really loved about this series was the humour. It was awkward and hilarious and I really enjoyed it.

9. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni

Forget profound plot development and epic fight scenes, Baka to Test is just here for a good laugh. While I didn't enjoy it as much as the first season because of the lack of constant summon wars, I still loved the cast of interesting characters and their crazy antics.

8. Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto

Hands down the most fun I've had while following any series was during Star Driver. It's so over-the-top with the flashy fights, the colours, the Ginga Bishounen and everything but I've honestly never had so much fun watching anything in my life. It's not overly profound or anything but I really enjoyed waiting up on Sunday nights for the release even though I had school the next day.

7. UN-GO

UN-GO is officially the last series I completed before the end of 2011. What people said about it initially made me hesitant to pick it up but when I did I was hooked. Though purely as a detective anime, it isn't fantastic, there is something about the underlying themes that really had me interested.

6. Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail

Black Lagoon is my favourite series. Ever. I really enjoyed this except for the fact that there was too much of a gap in between the episodes and it was really just a blood bath most of the time. I really did enjoy it though.

5. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
4. GOSICK
3. Usagi Drop
2. Fate/Zero
1. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokuta wa Mada Shiranai

The top 5 I mentioned as the top series per genre and you can read what I said about them here.

D-5: The Best Anime of 2011「GENRE」

Part 2 of the countdown to 2011 with the best anime of 2011 in each genre. Keep in mind that this was my HSC year so I am limited to the series that I was able to watch, which you can see here. I am excluding series that are running into 2012.

Action - Fate/Zero

Fate/Zero has truly moved into a class of it's own in all aspects of the anime. Ufotable seems to have left Studio DEEN's adaptation of Fate/stay-night in the dust with their adaptation of Fate/Zero. While the action sequences are great, Fate/Zero is also much more than simply flashy fight scenes with magical powers. It is a combination of good story telling, interesting characters, beautiful animation and an amazing soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura (who did Tsubasa Chronicles, one of my favourite soundtracks). Altogether, Fate/Zero is a real quality production that I won't be forgetting any time soon.

Other notable series: Roberta's Blood Trail (even though it's an OVA because if I had to pick a series that had truly ended, then I'd probably have a hard time choosing one that was really above the rest)

Comedy - Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

While it's not purely comedy driven, Denpa Onna is still the best anime that falls under this category in my opinion. The first three episodes were a lot more than I expected and could've functioned alone as a separate series. I know quite a few people didn't enjoy it after it reverted to a standard slice-of-life kind of story but I surprisingly still found it extremely enjoyable. That probably had something to do with the amazing artwork and the interesting mix of characters that never failed to amuse me.

Other notable series: Baka to Test: Shoukanjuu Ni, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukanai

Drama - Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai

I was never meant to pick this series up during the spring season this year, so it ended up being the reason I was watching a lot more than I could handle. Surprisingly, AnoHana turned out to be a lot more than I expected, becoming on of my favourite series of the year, and of all-time so far. I'm not exaggerating at all when I say this series made me cry in every single episode. What can I say? I'm a sucker for sad dramas. I really, really loved the way this story was told.

Other notable series: Hanasaku Iroha

Mystery - GOSICK

Detective stories are never out of style but the difficult thing is making it interesting. I really liked the some of the cases they had to offer. While the story was fairly linear and somewhat episodic initially, I liked the darker turn it took at the mid-way point. The main characters were fairly standard with the odd detective and the sidekick, or the loli tsundere and the male lead that was made to show character development. The supporting characters really made up for that though. While everything seems standard in hindsight, it wasn't something I consciously thought about while watching. GOSICK was definitely a really good series that I enjoyed this year.

Other notable series: Un-Go

Slife-of-Life - Usagi Drop

Usagi Drop really could be a page out of the book of someone's life. It doesn't romanticise or exaggerate what would happen if a young girl were to suddenly become a part of a middle-aged man's life and what they would both have to go through. It's not overly dramatised and it is the kind of story that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I wasn't too keen on the series initially when it was recommended to me by a friend but I couldn't help but fall in love with all the characters. There is a real charm about the series that is really rare in anime nowadays.

I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't put anything under romance or sci-fi, especially since romance is one of my favourite genres, but there was really nothing that I could specifically put under each genre as a major focal point.

Usagi Drop Preview + First Impression

Airing:
8th July 2011 (Yes, that was last week.) 0045

Producer:
Production IG

Genre:
Slife of Life

Synopsis:
Going home for his grandfather's funeral, thirty-year-old bachelor Daikichi is floored to discover that the old man had an illegitimate child with a younger lover! The rest of his family is equally shocked and embarrassed by this surprise development, and not one of them wants anything to do with the silent little girl, Rin. In a fit of angry spontaneity, Daikichi decides to take her in himself! But will living with this overgrown teenager of man help Rin come out of her shell? And hang on, won't this turn of events spell doom for Daikichi's love life?!

Fansub:
I do believe I'm watching Doki Fansubs. (Why is the fansub important? I've got no idea. In any case, anything is better than HorribleSubs ripped of Crunchyroll. To be honest though, after watching all these Korean shows, any Japanese fansub is way better.) 

Thoughts:
At first, I didn't really notice this show because the art really isn't too eye-catching. That's an understatement really. I had a look at the chart for the 100th time a few days before the season started and actually read all the synopses and thought it sounded really interesting and really felt like it was something I had to watch. So I ditched my plans of watching Blood-C (which I heard isn't too good) and went with this instead. 

PV:


First Impression:
Truly and completely honestly, my first thought was 'the art is weird'. The colours aren't that nice and it takes a bit to get used to. Well, for me it did. I didn't really like the way the scenery was done, but hey, each to their own. Story-wise, it was a good introduction episode. Nothing too extraordinary but it was nice. The story isn't extra special or different but I'm looking forward to a heartwarming series.