Animé of the Year (2011)

[Jb]

Animé of the Year (2011)

Well, the year is coming to an end soon and all of this years anime is for the most part airing. It's that time again to choose the anime of the year, this time for 2011. Lets try to stick to shows that started and ended in 2011(or the first week in Jan or late Dec.). That means no Naruto, Bleach, One Piece ect. You can throw out your opinons or you can just go by genre or whatever floats your boat.

Anyway, lets get the obvious answer out of the way. Yep, you guess it...

Puella Magi Madoka Magica​

Yeah, you seen it coming, I could go a whole page on how good(yet slightly overrated) this anime is, but i'm pretty sure we all know why. Good story, great characters, some of the best animation of the year and dat OST. It's pretty much perfect in every way imo. As for my runner up, that goes to Nichijou, words can't explain how funny this show is, the animation is ever changing yet never bad, the OP is pretty cool to.

Here is a list of all the 2011 anime for quick checking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Anime_of_2011


So, lets go.

 

[Autis-misc]

I've seen almost none of the animes on that list, and the only one that looks moderately good is Fate/Zero.

 

[Charizard Champion#06]

OPINIONS 8D

My pick this year is definitely Nichijou. The humor is top-notch, the animation is topper-notch. Yes, I just made up a word to describe this anime. This was the reason why I looked forward to my Saturdays. It was the perfect pick-me-up and before I knew it, it was already over. The characters were well written and funny, the situations were always interesting, and the constantly changing animation was subtle (and sometimes not too subtle).

Steins;Gate is my second pick and Meduka is third. Steins;Gate is a modern time-travel story DONE REALLY REALLY WELL. The execution was fantastic and the story triumphs even with the non-beautiful style it has. Plus Okabe is one of the greatest protagonists ever. Meduka was well done, VERY visually stimulating, but I felt it got a little over hyped. I heard people talking about how groundbreaking and amazing it was but when I got around to watching it I was like "They die? That's it? Okay, maybe it gets more scarring later on." It was depressing, sure, but I never knew the characters long enough to feel bad for them. Episode 10 was wonderful though, Homura's story was well done, and made the whole thing stand a lot taller. The thing is, I felt Steins;Gate did the time travel story better. We had over ten episodes to see Okabe and his quirky personality, so when he BROKE THE **** DOWN we really felt it. When you see Homura's story, it's just another girl in Madoka crying. Maybe a bit more impactful than the other episodes but not by much. Homura had some hints as to what her backstory was until episode 10, but blasting through it all at once lessened the impact.

Penguindrum ain't done yet and Fate/Zero won't be finished this year either. Kaiji 2 was great, but that's more of a cult-favourite thingy.

EDIT: added more stuff to read.

 

[TotalPotato]

Wouldn't it make more sense to allow any anime that ended/will end in 2011 to be eligible? Otherwise there are always going to be some animes that won't be considered because they start one year and end in another year.

There is not much input I can give here, because I haven't finished some of 2011's really good animes (watching Steins;Gate, haven't seen Madoka yet), and I won't finish them until next year. I have watched a fair few of 2011's offerings, but I don't think it's fair for me to judge whether I think any of them are better than Steins;Gate.

 

[Jb]

Well I suppose if the majority aired in 2011 then it's cool.

 

[RLinksoul]

dat OST.

I'll agree with you on that one.

but when I got around to watching it I was like "They die? That's it? Okay, maybe it gets more scarring later on." It was depressing, sure, but I never knew the characters long enough to feel bad for them.

Pretty much this, combined with the fact that show was promoted as being cutesy and colorful for the sake of pure shock value. It seemed like the show was more concerned with shocking the audience than being written decently. Urobochi even admits that he didn't care enough to give anyone but Madoka family members. It would have made Homura's devotion to Madoka much more believable if we learned what was going on with her. Having neglectful or abusive parents would have given her all the more reason to cling to Madoka above her classmates and Mami.

I'm going with Nichijou as well.
It's not a conventional slice of life in the K-on sense. It's hilarious, off the wall and clever. The characters are memorable and well developed. One thing I loved was that it took the time to give even the most minor background characters a chance to shine and develop, instead of focusing on only five or so main characters.

The animation is gorgeous, with special effects that seemed unnecessarily well done, and soft colors that help the music convey a pleasant but not overly cutesy slice of life atmosphere... for how long that part lasts.

 

[Chris]

I've seen almost none of the animes on that list, and the only one that looks moderately good is Fate/Zero.

>Implying AnoHana, Baka and Test, Bakuman, Ben-to, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Bunny Drop, C, Chihayafuru, Deadman Wonderland, Denpa Onna, Future Diary, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, Nichijou, Persona 4: The Animation, Madoka, Squid Girl, Steins;Gate, Tiger & Bunny and The World God Only Knows didn't range from entertaining to good to excellent

Get out.

For me, I'd have to go with AnoHana, Boku wa Tomodachi, Bunny Drop, Future Diary, Nichijou, Persona 4 and The World God Only Knows as my picks of the year. They all brought a lot of good things to the table, even if half of them are adaptions of manga and light novels. It was all mostly a drastic improvement over the god awful moe-fests we were getting prior.

 

[ParaChomp]

I have no idea. I haven't been watching much anime lately and none of the ones that I'm watching are recent so I can't say.

Post Count +1

 

[Taichi]

I'd say I enjoyed Steins Gate and Tiger and Bunny the most this year.

 

[Charizard Champion#06]

For me, I'd have to go with AnoHana, Boku wa Tomodachi, Bunny Drop, Future Diary, Nichijou, Persona 4 and The World God Only Knows as my picks of the year. They all brought a lot of good things to the table, even if half of them are adaptions of manga and light novels. It was all mostly a drastic improvement over the god awful moe-fests we were getting prior.

Any thoughts on Steins;Gate or did you skip that one?

 

[PikaPika677]

Any thoughts on Steins;Gate or did you skip that one?

I'm watching Steins;Gate and it's pretty good. I thought it came out like in 2008 or something. I'm not a big anime watcher....

Anyway, I don't know a lot of anime so yeah...

 

[Crimsonlink]

Persona 4 the Animation. I'm not very interested in the other animes offered this year. Though Hunter X Hunter is off to a good start.

However Persona 4 was simply the best this year IMO out of all the 2011 animes I have watched.

 

[Charizard Champion#06]

It's not finished yet though. :\

 

[themightydoof]

What a choice! In this year, Blue Exorcist proved that seemingly tired shounen cliches can still make for incredible entertainment if delivered with appropriate skill (one of the greatest OSTs in the history of ever didn't exactly hurt, either). [C] was possibly the slickest, most stylish and relentlessly entertaining anti-capitalist rant that I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Nyanpire straddled the line between stupidity and genius so perfectly you were never sure which was which. Nichijou breathed new life into the moe slice of life genre, turning into not only one of the most hilarious comedies I've seen, but in the case of Nano's character arc, a simple but no less powerful emotional masterpiece (if you shed no tears in the final episode, YOU ARE MADE OF STONE).

However, there is one anime that stood above them all. And that is Steins;Gate. While I'll be the first to admit that the animation and (most of) the music were little more than serviceable, the fascinating and extremely well-developed characters (do I even need to bother waxing lyrical about Okabe at this point?) and the masterfully set-up and incredibly engaging story with its ingenious twists and WHAM episodes (episode twelve, anyone?), make this series (once you've seen up to a point) completely impossible to turn away from. The masterpiece of 2011? Hell, yes.

(Please note, these opinions are the ones of someone who missed both Madoka and Bunny Drop. Those are on my seemingly endless backlog (along with maybe AnoHana) and will be watched sometime next year, probably. Also, while I'm enjoying Future Diary and Chihayafuru a lot, they aren't finished and won't finish until next year, so they'll be up for consideration then).

 

[Crimsonlink]

It's not finished yet though. :\

It might not be finished but its the best anime introduced in 2011. Also I agree with themightydoof about Ao no Exorcist. I forgot it started this year since its been a while.

The fillers took a bit away from the anime but overall it was great and the filler ending was fulfilling enough for a remake later on.

 

[Mankanshoku Mako]

I'm going to go ahead and give the reward to Future Diary, even though it's only aired 9 episodes. Steins;Gate, Magical Girl Madoka Magica, Hellsing Ultimate 8, and Higurashi: Kira 2 are my runners up. I've only seen 3 episodes of Nichijou, so I don't think I'd be justified in giving it a judgement yet.

 

[Jolteon91]

Nichijou, it had me laughing through every episode, it also had one of the best OPs EVER!!! (and it's not often I say that about an OP that doesn't feature a song by FLOW).

 

[Chris]

Any thoughts on Steins;Gate or did you skip that one?

Skipped it in my post as I haven't had the chance to sit down and watch it, yet. Been planning to, however. Haven't had much success finding time to go through the visual novel, either.

 

[Janovy]

I had really hard time picking one over another but here it is;

#1 - Steins;Gate
#2 - Puella Magi Madoka Magica

I don't know what to say about these anime series when others pretty much spoke my thoughts. Steins;Gate is an amazing time travel series with wonderful cast of colorful character, intriguing plot and an amazing protagonist who is my favorite protagonist of all times. Excellent voice acting along with an extraordinary mix of humor, romance, darkness, twists and tension make for an excellent series definitely worth of your time. You will find yourself caring even for characters you didn't think much off so I guess that alone speaks for itself. Steins;Gate - number one anime of the year! El Psy Congroo!

Madoka Magica is just stunning and beautiful. I have never seen a magical girl genre deconstructed the way Madoka was. This anime simply blew my mind and is hundred times better than any magical girl series I've ever watched. It transforms a beautiful fairytale into a twisted curse where the main character is the last standing source of all hope. The end of series is bittersweet and while I did dislike the fact of what happened to Madoka - I'm extremely excited for the movie. The art is interesting and the animation is gorgeous.

Other anime series I'd like to point out;
- Mawaru Penguindrum
- Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai
- Guilty Crown
- Mirai Nikki

 

[Seem]

My top pick this year is, without a doubt, Steins;Gate.

Runners up go to Bunny Drop, Anohana, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Kimi to Boku, Chihayafuru, Hanasaku Iroha and Future Diary. They brought great things from well thought out stories, beautiful animation to heart warming and loveable characters. Simply a joy to watch.

With regards to Madoka, I think I'll forever be on the fence, haha.