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Blog Articles Archives About Me Weekly Reviews Links Sigs Contact Me Categories Link Me Best of Anime 2012 Posted by Neko Kyou in Thoughts on April 2nd, 2013 If you’re new here, please subscribe to my RSS feed . Thanks for visiting! The Top 10 Anime of 2012 post is finally here! 2012 was a really great year for anime. I usually find myself struggling to pick series good enough to put on the list, but this year I find that I had way too much to put on it. It took a while to filter out some of them. There were just that many good series that came out in 2012. As usual, this list is only based on what I’ve watched so far and is solely based on my personal opinion. There were a few other series that I’ve not been able to catch up to yet (i.e. Eureka Seven Ao, Acchi Kocchi just to name a couple) so those would not be considered for this list. I may make a separate post on them when I finally get around to watch them. Also, series that made it to the top 10 in last year’s list won’t be repeated. That said, I do have an addition to make to Shakugan no Shana F, which took third place last year. Shakugan no Shana F continued to impress pretty much throughout the whole season, being able to keep viewers on the edge and to continue guessing. But the final episode felt more like a forced extension. Personally, I would have loved if they had left the ending as it was before the last episode. There really wasn’t any solid reason to send everyone to Xanadu and leaving the whole thing feel so unsatisfying. In short, I loved everything about the final season of Shana except the ending. Just had to get that out #10 Dog Days’ I enjoyed the first season of Dog Days, although I never expected to see a second season coming along. Fortunately, it did and it continued to follow the same formula that made it an enjoyable watch. More previously known characters were brought into the fray and a few new ones were introduced, keeping things fresh. Will we see a third season? Hopefully! #9 Psycho-Pass The concept of using technology to discover one’s talents and assigning them to what they do best is not something new, yet Psycho-Pass takes it to a new height. The plot is hardly predictable and continues to throw out new, sometimes jaw-dropping twists that would have you question who is truly right and who is really wrong. #8 Hyouka KyoAni once again showed what they’re capable of with Hyouka – a visually stunning and mentally stimulating series that maintains a casual and almost cute atmosphere throughout. Not something easy to do when you’re dealing with mostly mysteries. We definitely need a second season for this. #7 Ixion Saga DT One of the funniest series to grace 2012 is Ixion Saga DT. The art style and animation might not be much to look at compared to the others, but the over-the-top humor, cast of perverted characters and plot, though somewhat insane, works really well together to form a strong and interesting story. #6 Kokoro Connect One of the most touching series of 2012 has to be Kokoro Connect. While it may appear hilarious and lighthearted, when it comes down to it, you can’t help but feel for what each of the main cast are going through and admire their friendship. The dark secrets that we each keep deep in our hearts and what happens when you start to view yourself and others from a different perspective – these are all things that we’ve all probably wondered at least once in our lives. #5 Bakuman S3 Oh no! Bakuman has been knocked off its throne from last year! Not to say that season 3 isn’t as good, but it just goes to show how though this year’s competitors are! Bakuman is still one of the few series I really loved, and continued to re-read (manga) even though it’s over. It hit a soft spot in me and I know others who feels the same. #4 Accel World Many of us would yearn to live in a world like this where a universally accepted MMO-like VR world exist. It’s a realistic painting of what the future could be, until you throw in the Brain Burst program. Accel World started off really strong, but hits a snag around the middle of the season during the Seiji Nomi/Dusk Taker arc. Even so, it’s a very strong series that would have you wanting more. #3 Kuroko no Basuke There has been many who had tried to reach the level of success that Slam Dunk had with basketball themed anime/manga, but none had come anywhere close for me as Kuroko’s Basketball had. Unlike Slam Dunk, matches and story arcs in Kuroko are played out much faster and doesn’t really drag out. A second season is coming out soon, and I can expect to see it doing even better. #2 Zero no Tsukaima F It’s sad that Zero no Tsukaima has finally reached it’s final season. But at the same time I’m happy at how it turned out. The opening arc with Joseph was kinda off, after building up the villain, one would have expected a grander finale. But it’s not like ZnT to drag things out when it shouldn’t be and that’s where it also shines. While some gag elements were repeated, you can tell that progress has been made and often times they do not let petty things get in their way. Side Note: It could be because of the similarities between the show, or how the main leads are almost the same (down to the seiyuus), but it keeps reminding me of how Shana could have been better if it stops dragging things out like it did or how the relationship between Shana and Yuji’s relationship keeps getting reset to square one. #1 Sword Art Online Sword Art Online was love at first sight. I’ve been a fan of MMO-themed series ever since .hack, and SAO just strengthened that feeling. Not to mention that SAO is also the closest thing I’ve seen to what I’m working on as well – in fact, it has become part of my inspiration for it. SAO is, in a nutshell, a combination of many things I love so there really isn’t much I can do to resist it even if I wanted to. It’s true that there are plot holes and the story could have been much better, but there’s no denying that it’s something I truly enjoyed on a level that’s seldom met by other series. You may call SAO as being overrated, it just goes to show from the number of fans that there is just something about Sword Art Online that connects to them. Will there be a second season for Sword Art Online? Only time will tell, but it would be foolish not to considering it’s huge following. In the mean time, if you’re a fan of SAO and have not checked out the light novels yet, head on over to Baka-Tsuki here: Baka-Tsuki: Sword Art Online Translated Light Novels Click to view full size! XD AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! That’s the Top 10 Anime for 2012! As I said at the start, 2012 had a lot of great anime besides these 10, like BTOOOM!, Code Geass: Akito the Exiled, Another, Yuru Yuri S2, K and Girls Und Panzer, just to name a few. Will 2013 be just as great? From what we’ve seen so far, and what lurks in the near future, we can certainly hope! If you’re interested to check out past year list of the top 10 anime of the year, check out the following posts: Top 10 Anime 2011 Top 10 Anime 2010 Top 10 Anime 2009 Top 10 Anime 2008 Top 10 Anime 2007 Top 10 Anime 2006 And of course, the Top 10 Funniest Anime of All Times , if you haven’t done so already! Delicious Share This | StumbleUpon It! Tags: 2012 , top-list If you liked this article, please consider subscribing to my RSS feed . Don’t know what an RSS feed is? Click here . Leave A Comment Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake! Posted by Neko Kyou in Updates on February 11th, 2013 Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake! The Top 10 Anime of 2012 was supposed to go up around 2 weeks ago, but I’ve had to push it back a bit. Been having a streak of real bad luck (my car going up in flames and my dad falling off a ladder) so I’ve been worn out taking care of stuff while trying to work on my writing projects. But I’ll still get it done as soon as I can, hopefully, within the next couple of weeks. Also taking this chance to catch up on a few series from 2012 which I had not had...