Lurking at Full Throttle – Top 10 Anime of 2012

Hey all, Steve here.  For the freshmen who don’t know me, it’s because I haven’t been at anime club this semester, being wrapped up instead captaining the CSM eSports DotA team.  Rest assured, however, that I have been keeping up with anime this year.  Gene has been harassing me for the past week to post my top 10 anime of 2012.  So I though I would oblige him.

(Warning, superfluous vulgarity to follow)

Originally I made a google doc spreadsheet and told him to go fuck himself, but then I decided that I should contribute something to the blog so that I can not feel guilty about going to Wasabicon in March to laugh at Gene in a dress and scare the shit out of some neckbeards with some REALLY fucked-up hentai (I got some real treats this year lol).  So without further ado, here’s my Top 10 Anime of 2012.

Disclaimer: I didn’t watch everything, this is a top 10 of the things I watched.  If your shit-taste anime didn’t make the list, it’s because it either sucked or I didn’t watch it.  Also, this list is comprised of anime that ENDED in 2012.  Unfortunately, this rule eliminates some anime that really should be on this list.  These anime are mentioned at the end and will probably end up in next year’s top 10.

10 – Saki: Achiga-Hen – Episode of Side A

Those of you who haven’t watched/read the original Saki will probably not get this show.  Though at it’s core, Saki is about lesbians with mahjong-related superpowers playing mahjong, so there’s really not a whole lot to get.  Saki Side A is about the side of the National Mahjong Tournament bracket opposite to Saki’s school.  Nodoka on Saki’s team apparently spent her childhood with the girls of Achiga playing mahjong, but then left for some reason or another (I forget, I was too busy watching lesbians play mahjong).  After hearing news of Nodoka’s success in the world of middle-school competitive mahjong (lol) the girls of Achiga decide they want to play with Nodoka again by meeting her in the National High School tournament.  While not quite as good as the original, Side A focused on the right stuff: lesbians with superpowers playing mahjong.

Remember, if your show didn’t make the list, it was worse than lesbians playing mahjong.

9 – Hyouka

This anime makes the list because it was engaging.  On the surface, Hyouka seems to be a generic high school slice of life anime, but Hyouka really is more than that once you start watching it.  It’s not so much the actual plot that makes this story engaging as the characters, specifically Chitanda and Oreki.  Chitanda is a sort-of naive girl from a farming family and Oreki is a pretty smart guy who is disinterested in basically everything.  The interaction of these two characters makes the show worth watching.  Chitanda is curious about everything, almost to the point of being belligerently so.  Oreki is reluctantly dragged into Chitanda’s curiosity, and the two solve mysteries; really basic mysteries though, like who locked Chitanda in the club room.  But again, it’s not the mysteries themselves that make this show engaging, it’s Chitanda and Oreki.

8 – Mirai Nikki

I remember this show being hyped so much to me.  And for the most part, it held up to expectations.  One day shy mc-kun, who writes everything in his phone, wakes up to realize his phone has started predicting the future.  Turns out 11 other people also have diaries that predict some facet of the future, and everybody’s trying to kill each other.  The story is well-executed and engaging the entire time, but the ending just made me mad.  Like, the first part of the big reveal could have been ok, but the rest of it was just felt like the writer giving up.  I may be vindictively rating this anime lower than it should be, but that ending really just made me sad.  Honestly it reminded me of End of Evangelion in terms of WTF factor.  Regardless of the ending, this anime is definitely worth a watch (or a read if manga is your preference).

7 – Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (aka Nichibros)

I really wasn’t expecting a lot from Nichibros.  It’s a slice of life comedy with a skit structure to the slices, so I was really expecting a couple laughs here and there, but really not much.  Instead what I got was a show that made me laugh the entire time.  Maybe it’s because us guys did similar things in high school and it’s a bit nostalgic, and maybe it’s because this was one of the shows our weekend anime club watched, but god damn this show is fucking hilarious.  This and this are really what set the tone for this show.  Even watching these clips while writing this made me laugh.  Watch this anime, you will love it.

6 – Thermae Romae

Yes, another comedy show made the top 10 this year.  Thermae Romae is rated higher than Nichibros because it’s not a sketch-based slice of life.  Like yeah, Nichibros is fucking hilarious, but sketch shows just seem lazy to me.  Thermae Romae, on the other hand, is an episodic comedy (huge difference right?).  Really Nichibros and Thermae Romae are interchangable in ranking, but I just thought Thermae Romae was funnier.  Watch both, they’re worth a few laughs.

5 – Sakamichi no Apollon

OK, before you say anything, yes this is josei shit and yes you will have a vagina for watching it.  That being said, it’s a sad fact that josei is saving the industry.  Sakamichi no Apollon is objectively a good story that is executed extremely well with an incredible OST to top it off.  The only reason this show is not rated higher is because it suffers heavily from the fact that it is josei, as in “THIS IS JOSEI NOBODY CAN BE HAPPY!!!!!!11one!!!1!!!eleven!!11!”  Everybody should still watch this anime, and then immediately watch Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure to counteract the vagina-growing effect this show has.

4 – Sword Art Online

This anime is really controversial on the imageboards for some reason.  I really liked this anime.  The construction of a hero character actually occurs in this show.  Most anime start out something like “Hi I’m MC-kun and I’ll be your hero for the next 12 weeks.”  SAO however, starts out like “Yo I’m MC-kun, I’m good at MMOs, but holy fuck I might die from playing this one.”  And then the MC becomes stronger throughout the series.  It really is refreshing to see that sort of character development, which isn’t common recently.  I think I also really liked SAO because it’s a story that gets MMOs right.  Maybe I’m projecting here, but seeing something like this (4:30 on) in an anime about MMOs really makes me feel good.  Now if only those whiny scrubs in actual MMOs would shape the fuck up and quit bitching…

3 – Fate/Zero

UFOTable + Urobuchi Gen = win.  There’s really not a whole lot to say about Fate/Zero other than that.  Great story, great characters, great soundtrack, incredible animation.  Just an overall top show.  Watch it and be amazed.

2 – Tonari no Kaibutsu-Kun (aka That Anime I’m not Watching Because I Don’t Have a Vagina)

Ok, yes, another joshit show.  Remember what I said before though, josei is saving the industry.  This one has less vagina-grow in it because the characters can actually be happy for once (thank God).  It still suffers from josei with illogical women issues, but it’s actually watchable without feeling your dick getting smaller.  This anime scores highly because of character development and lack of josei-ishness in a josei.  Definitely watch it, though again, watch some TTGL or Jojo immediately after so that vagina you grow goes away.

1 – Nisemonogatari

What can I say, I’m a sucker for Nisioisin and Shaft.  If you liked Bakemonogatari (which I loved) then you’ll like Nisemonogatari.  Nise suffers from a lack of Shenjogahara-sama, but makes up for it in other ways (like this).  Yes it’s not as good as the Bake, but God damn this is anime is still the best anime of the year.  It’s Shaft being Shaft with a story that lets Shaft be Shaft and make sense, in a Shaft sort of way.  Same great characters as Bake plus two more that are great, engaging dialog, epic soundtrack, Shaft animation… there’s no way this anime can be anything less than the best anime of the year.

Honorable Mentions

These are anime that cannot be in the top 10 for this year because they haven’t finished yet.  They will likely appear on next year’s top 10 unless some god-tier anime blows my mind or these anime manage to fuck up what they have somehow.

Robotics;Notes

Same writer as Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate (notice the semicolon).  Really excellent show about a high school robotics club trying to build a giant robot.  Add in some semicolon-necessary science wtfness and you get a pretty damn good anime.

Shin Sekai Yori

This is another anime that’s really controversial on the imageboards.  I’m not sure why though… it’s really a solid anime.  The first couple episodes are a bit convoluted, but the show really picks up after that.  Definitely worth a watch.

Psycho-Pass

I’m really upset that I’m not able to put this anime in my list for the year.  IMO the best show hands-down.  It reminds me a lot of Ghost in the Shell, but with a plot (Urobuchi Gen lol).  This anime really delves into a dystopian society and how it may fall apart.  Unless Urobuchi writes something better in 2013, I have a feeling that Psycho-Pass will be THE anime of 2013.  Watch it and bask in its industry-saving glory.

And that concludes my list of the top anime for 2012.  Like it or hate it? Like I give a fuck.  Your taste is shit and I am clearly superior to you in every way.  With that, I look forward to seeing everybody at Wasabicon.  Make sure to stop by the video room during the H-Block this year and say hi.

<3 you all (except for Gene)