2012 Year Ender: The Final Best
Congratulations! You have reached the final list of 2012!
Yes we have reached the final list for your viewing pleasure! So what anime of 2012 was the most entertaining thing you ever saw this year? Whenever I hear that question it usually takes me a while to think up what I enjoyed. But anyways, we wish to hear what our readers had fun watching.
As an update, so far the following Year-Ender posts are out and open for nominations. Nominations are open for about 2-3 days after this post is released.
- 2012 Year Ender: Rocks Your Sox Music
- 2012 Year Ender: Super Studio Fun
- 2012 Year-Ender: Coolest Characters
- 2012 Year Ender: Special Specifics
The Smile Precure girls await the results
Shows that are acceptable for nomination of the anime year 2012 are from Winter ’12 to Fall ’12 anime series. This does not include animes that will continue on into the Winter ’13 season that are 20+ episodes.
Nominate as many as you want or just one if you are having trouble choosing. As well, if you can, please add why you chose that nomination.
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Best Animation
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Surprise Series
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Anime Adaption from a Manga/Game
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Movie of the Year
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Best OVA/OAD
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Anime of the Year
Thank you for all your hard work~
So what’s next?! Your nominations will be accepted for the next 2-3 days. After that, they will be compiled into a poll for you viewers to vote on. Polls will be released in a series of posts per category. Results will be announced later on. So look forward to those polls soon~!
About Foshizzel
Is huge anime fan from Florida! who loves to watch anime and also enjoys drawing and collecting pictures, my favorite genre of anime has to be Mecha, there is just something awesome about giant robots beating the crap out of each other! Other than that type of show, I love a good comedy or action series :D
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
I’m probably cheating here since there’s no downloads for it but Movie of the Year for me was Wolf Children. It tells a tale of 2 siblings who have wolf blood in them, allowing them to transform into wolves when they wish and basically it’s a big life story about what path do they want to pursue – whether to live as a human or live as a wolf. It’s a beautiful tale filled with great characters that really bloom by the end of the movie. I was able to watch it on the full screen in the city (special screening). It was definitely a movie I would highly recommend to anyone. Unfortunately since I’m probably the only one who watched it, I can’t go into too much detail and I know this is a wasted vote but even so, it deserved a mention ^^
Chuunibyou to me felt like the most “WOW” in terms of animation. KyoAni doing extreme fighting scenes!?!? HOLY SHIT, they need to do more of this! It’s so beautiful! But I’m sure it’s just me being bias since I can’t remember half of the shows that aired this year T___T
Sakamichi no Apollon in my eyes is one of the best animes of the year. In my eyes, everyone got a well balanced amount of air time which gave each of the characters the right amount of time to develop and bloom before their little character arcs finished. I loved how they used music as a form of communication of feelings and words and something ever more special than that. It was spectacular, it was amazing! I didn’t know Jazz was this awesome! And that ending where they didn’t have to say anything… just playing a churchy Moaning? Oh god… I loved it! I loved it a lot! It was really refreshing compared to the other highschool animes out there; taking on a more realistic approach to life intertwined with the music of jazz.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
Is it too late to change my movie of the year? xD WELL TOO BAD!!! I’ll go with K-On the Movie but that aired in 2011 (subbed in 2012, not sure if that counts) but if not then I’ll go for “Hotarubi no Mori e” (although I don’t even know when it originally released too :P)
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
Best Animation
KyoAni should run away with this with their shows Hyouka and Chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai! as both shows had brilliant art and amazing visuals. Fate/Zero by ufotable also gets a nomination, because of the extremely smooth and gripping fighting scenes. GoHands came in this year with their debut work of K, and it truly was a visual spectacle. However, if I were to pick one winner, it would be: Hyouka. Hyouka doesn’t have much action scenes, unlike the rest, but somehow KyoAni went crazy and delivered stunningly sharp scenes, whether it was in hot springs or in spring festivals. And need I mention the amazing cultural festival? Hyouka takes the prize.
Surprise Series
Well, I didn’t listen to much of the hype of anime titles, so I can’t give much of an opinion. I probably pick Jinrui wa suitai Shimashita because it gave me much more than I expected.
Anime Adaptation from a Manga/Game
Jormungand could have won it any other time, but Sakamichi no Apollon takes it, as i did one thing that manga usually cannot do: delivering the musical aspect.
Anime of the Year
Gritty competition, but I go for Fate/Zero. A fantastic premise, with a fantastic group of characters, animation by ufotable, music by Kajiura Yuki, and a script by Urobochi. With an all-star lineup, the result was exactly what was expected. Although the ending might have been predictable, due to the presence of the original show, I believe that it should win the AOTY.
Overall, 2012 was a decent year, and apart from trainwrecks (Guilty Crown), it seemed to be quite good. However, too many good shows are carrying over to next year, and many of them would have warranted nominations or even winning some of these categories. Here’s to a great 2013 in anime! Have a prosperous year of the snake!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The Surprise Series is easy:
Girls und Panzer
A show with no hype, a premise that left everyone just kinda thinking “So… high school girls… and tanks… riiiiight…”, and not much pedigree behind it in staff turned out to be a delightful romp through a slightly upturned world from the very start. It even shook off a slightly shaky start, and delivered a huge amount of tremendous action and plenty of story. The only hangups the show had were off the screen, in that the concept might have been a little too ambitious for the staff, leading to the delay of the final two episodes, but I think the 10 episodes the show has stack up to the full series of about any other show that I’ve seen.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Anime Adaptation from a Manga / Game:
Two nominations:
Nazo no Kanojo X – A manga with a really weird hook that turns a lot of people off and has a reputation for a glacial pace of progress was turned into a visually stunning anime that was well paced and had nearly flawless continuity, even though stories and plot points were moved, shifted, and rearranged in whole and in parts. And even though there wasn’t a large amount of progress within the main character’s physical relationship, there was always the feeling of moving forward, and if ‘glacial’ can describe the pace, it can also describe the definite feeling of inexorable progress that was given, always forward, never backward.
Koi to Senkyou to Chocolate – Based on a dating sim game, this show managed to fit in a huge story based around the politics and Student Council President election in a rather different from usual school. Able to work in a lot of interesting and realistic details about the election, it also featured some very realistic interactions between the likeable main character and most of the girls that feature in the game. The ending went in a different direction from what most people would have liked, and the show suffered a bit from that and picking what a lot of people thought was the ‘wrong’ girl, but the show was still very good throughout.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Movie of the Year:
Well, I only saw a couple, but I’m gonna put them both in:
Strike Witches the Movie
Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199
I know Yamato 2199 is still continuing, but the first release was tremendous, leaving me agog throughout. A great retelling and revision of an old property that pays great homage to the original throughout and still keeps it fresh and beautiful.
POWUH: 400-499 with 489 comments
most of my nominations are still continuing fuuuu fuuuuu ~_~
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Best Animation:
Kyoto Animation (Hyouka, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!)
Ufotable (Fate/Zero)
Shaft (Nisemonogatari)
P.A Works (Another)
GoHands ([K])
Production I.G (Guilty Crown)
Surprise Series:
Rinne no Lagrange
AKB0048
Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san
Oda Nobuna no Yabou
OniiAi
Best OVA/OAD:
“Another” OVA
Holy Knight
C³: Cube x Cursed x Curious Special
Persona 4 The Animation: No One is Alone
Accel World OVA
High School DxD
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? Of The Dead OVA
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia episode 13
Anime of the Year:
Jormungand: Hot and insane Koko Hekmatyar with epic gunfights, a good story and great character developments.
Mirai Nikki: A sadist’s guilty pleasure giving rise to the now iconic yandere Yuno Gasai.
Hyouka: Surprising story developments from normally mundane material.
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia: A good mystery anime with an excellent mix of drama, fantasy, and romance. Also has the best OP and ED.
Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle Season 2
POWUH: iLurker with 3 comments
Anime of the Year:
Shining Hearts ~Shiawase no Pan~
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
… a single tear slides down BlackBriar’s cheek upon being reminded of Shiny Bread…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Such a painful memory of losing time I will never get back no matter how hard I try. How did you know that dreaded show still haunts me?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I think the surprise of the year for me was Phi Brain (that did air this year, right?). I was expecting nothing and then it made puzzles cool and people that could do them god.
Other then that, I’d like to second Highway’s nomination of Girls und Panzer. Who knew a show about schoolgirls driving tanks could have some depth to it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, the second season aired this year. It was so unexpectingly good that it bent Overcooled and she started the Phi Brain cult. Who knew puzzles could influence people like that?
Girls und Panzer was a surprise but we shouldn’t have been surprised when it’s anime we’re dealing with. We’ve already had animes where girls are not only idols but soldiers at the same time (AKB0048 and Senki Zesshou Symphogear), those where you can make cases out of insignificant information (Hyouka) and animes where there are warrior societies fighting something as mundane as a half priced lunchbox but still make it look great (Ben-To).
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Best game adaption? Arcana Fam- LOLOLOLOLOLOL no. A thousand times no.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It seems your heart’s been broken by the adaption. What about Code: Breaker as a manga adaption?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Code:Breaker was a manga adaption? It’s not based off any manga I’ve ever read.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
LOL. Sorry, I meant from manga to anime adaption.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…Er, what I was trying to say was that the anime went so far off the manga, I don’t even think it should be classified as a manga adaption. xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Sarcasm doesn’t transfer well online xD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
@Karakuri: Yeah, you can’t tell the expression behind the words. It happens so it’s alright.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Funny considering the character of your avatar is 😛
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Best Animation: Kyoto Animation, Ufotable.
All of the other things are things I don’t notice/the ones I want are still going (Psycho-Pass, Zetsuen.) Rather annoying for me.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Best Animation
Fate/Zero was stunning. Episodes like the beginning of the Spring run were just incredible.
Surprise Series
Mouretsu Pirates, in spite of a title that sounds fanservicey, avoided being as much and was a cute girls doing cute things series that I really liked. Marika was great, and also surprise yuri.
Adaptation
Persona 4, as I’ve mentioned previously, was well adapted considering the countless hours of content and only 25 episodes to work with. Jormungand and Mysterious Girlfriend X were quite faithful and could also be in the mix.
Movie of the Year
As much as I’d like to preemptively award either One Piece, Madoka Magica or Evangelion, I’d say the best that I remember releasing this year on video was Hotarubi no Mori E. It’s like a 2-episode arc of Natsume Yuujinchou with different characters, but the same feels…
Best OVA/OAD
The Nichibros bonus eps. were pretty funny.
Anime of the Year
Fate/Zero.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
Best Animation
My picks Hyouka and Nisemonogatari have already been mentioned plenty, but I notice that neither Black Rock Shooter nor Girls und Panzer has been, at least in this category. Perhaps some would consider CG to be separate from animation, but without a separate category, it should fall under the same umbrella. Black Rock Shooter pushed human CG animation and action forward quite a bit when it came out at the beginning of the year, and Girls und Panzer did the same with machines, to an even greater extent. Those works deserve recognition.
Surprise Series
The way K turned out caught me by surprise. It wasn’t spectacular, but the way the sometimes-whimsical-sometimes-serious story played out was very good, and I appreciated how much weight the show put into all the little things. Not to mention the spectacular-at-times animation. I also nominate Hyouka for the surprise of KyoAni finally getting all its ducks in a row in a TV series for the 1st time in the 6 years since Haruhi. And on that note, Tari Tari was PA Works’s first good show from what I’ve seen, and it was phenomenal.
Anime Adaption from a Manga/Game
Well, this one has a couple obvious picks. Future Diary was an unforgettable spectacle, an awesome display of insanity that the manga had become famous for. The other one is clearly Joshiraku, the adaptation of Koji Kumeta’s 4-koma series about female comediennes. What do you know, comediennes know how to make people laugh, whodathunkit? A treat for every Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei fan.
Movie of the Year
I only watched one from this year, so Strike Witches gets it by default. A worthy pick.
Best OVA/OAD
Seitokai Yakuindomo never fails to make me laugh. The Girls und Panzer OVA was quite funny as well, though it was rather short and featured no tank action.
Anime of the Year
Even just 5/6 finished, Girls und Panzer probably edges out Hyouka for my top pick here. Tsuritama is right there just inches behind them. Future Diary and Nisemonogatari I would consider distant 4th and 5th, but worthy of nomination.
POWUH: iLurker with 5 comments
Best Animation – K
Anime of the Year – Fate/Zero TV2. I wpould nomitae JoJo as well, but since it’s still running…
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Best animation just HAS to go to K. Because regardless of almost a shapeless plot/character development/whatever, you can not deny that the art and animation was beautiful.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I can. The colors were horrible, and the filters were ridiculous. Was there *any* wall in that entire anime that was the same color on four corners?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Sorry, I didn’t mean for this to sound so attack-y. I just really loathed the art in K, so I do deny that it was beautiful.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Except for the ever-present blue filter, K overall looked pretty great.
POWUH: iLurker with 6 comments
Best Animation
Tsuritama. No it might not beat the technical achievements of other series, but it’s melding of rotoscoping and animation was seemless, the paiinted backgrounds were beautiful, artistic and original and the characters were adorable and highly expressive.
Surprise Series
Ixion Saga: I shouldn’t have been surprised because it was from Brain’s Base, but the retro designs didn’t make me expect to love it as much.
Anime Adaption from a Manga/Game
Natsume Yuujinchou
Anime of the Year: Tsuritama
If you haven’t seen it, please do. A too often overlooked masterpiece that takes you through a whirlwind of epic emotions the way only a true work of art can. I laughed so hard I cried and cried so hard I laughed.