Summer 2011 Anime Season End List

2011 had a fairly deep summer season, especially considering of the past few summers only Bakemonogatari was especially notable. Well, not much will approach that level, but 2011 had a strong with the concluding half of Steins;Gate and maybe Penguindrum can finish strong. I also believe that iDOLM@STER can finish as one of my favorites of the year. Luckily fall looks to be deep as well; it is a good time to be a fan.

For the fall season I’m thinking of changing up the format of these lists a bit by breaking them down in smaller, more tumblr-friendly sizes. Like I’ll do a small blurb of each show as I watch them then compile a straight ranking list later. Anyways, read on for the list.

Dr. Pepper Tier

1. Steins;Gate - Probably the only real competition Madoka Magica has for anime of the year (although fall looks like it could have some strong contenders). Steins;Gate is obviously at its strongest when playing upon its time travel and thriller elements. While the last couple of episodes definitely stayed true to this strength, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the predictability of the ending. Regardless, Steins;Gate is certainly the best show ending this season and my Tuesday evenings will be much more boring without it.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #1

I’m Lady Tier

2. The IDOLM@STER - Yeah I’m going there. This is turning out to be one of my favorite shows of the season. Nishigori Atsushi and co. are doing some good work. I can’t really pinpoint why I like this show so much, but it probably has to do with cute girls… Some of the songs are pretty nice too (would be very happy if Overmaster and Kyun! Vampire Girl made it into the show). Right now my top two idols are Miki and Makoto; just hoping they keep spreading the love because all the idols are great! I’d forever be in Bamco’s debt if they decided to translate (maybe even localize) iM@S2 for the PS3.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #14 (+12), Watched: 13 eps.

Must Watch Tier

3. Natsume Yuujin-Chou San - As with Kaiji, Natsume retained it’s successful formula which resulted in another great season. The mixture of Japanese mysticism with Natsume’s maturation process leads to surprisingly heartwarming stories. The homolust scenes with Tanuma are always awkward, but that’s better than the alternative with Natori. I appreciated all the Taki appearances, but really wish she had more screen time. Also, adorable shouta fox is adorable.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #4 (+1)
4. Kaiji - In classic Kaiji fashion, we get a few moments to enjoy his badassery only to rage when he naively throws away any gains he made. Kaiji constantly makes you question if he’s a genius or idiot. Even when his naivete gets the better of of him, you can’t help but keep cheering for him because of his extreme loyalty. Perhaps the only downside of the show is that the pachinko arc took FOREVER.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #5 (+1)
5. Kamisama Dolls - One of my favorite shows of the season. The action scenes were exciting and I loved the character interactions between the entire cast. As someone with a relatively sheltered life, I always find shows about children with huge burdens of responsibility intriguing. Mahiru was awesome and it’s a shame she took so long to appear. It’s also a shame that we will probably never get a second season and see Kyouhei man up. Honestly I’d rather have a DenYuuDen sequel, but this is near the top of my list for desired yet unlikely sequels.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #6 (+1)

Pretty Good Tier

6. Mawaru Penguindrum - This show somewhat eludes me as sometimes it seems really good, but at other times it is boring. We are finally learning of the subtle connections between the entire cast and if it wasn’t obvious from the beginning, FATE will be the concept most contended throughout the remainder of the show. It still has potential and after the past two episodes I am genuinely intrigued again.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #2 (-4), Watched: 13 eps.
7. Ao no Exorcist - One of the few shounen shows ever that I’ve truly enjoyed. The true strength of the show is Rin. This makes Ao no Exorcist somewhat of an anomaly because I usually hate shounen main characters. Maybe I’m just partial to Okamoto Nobuhiko characters.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #9 (+2)
8. Hanasaku Iroha - A good show, but it never really lived up to my lofty expectations. The animation and art quality were consistently good, but I feel that the plot faltered in far too many episodes. It never really delivered as a coming of age story as all of the characters still have much maturing to go through. It left me with an undesirable feeling of incompleteness. Perhaps what bothered me the most was that Ohana’s addressing of inn/family issues were totally disjointed with how she dealt with Kou which lessened the impact of the final few episodes.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #8
9. Blood-C - Yes, things surely got real. While I felt some of the gratuitous violence was unnecessary (especially in the final episode), it was refreshing to see a show that wasn’t afraid to push the—albeit censored—envelope. It was also morbidly satisfying to see CLAMP characters get brutally killed.
   Summer Halfway Rank: #19 (+10)
10. Usagi Drop - I was never disappointed with an episode, but I never really looked forward to watching it either. A good show whose ranking suffered by being in a loaded season and my own whimsy.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #3 (-7)

Worth a Watch Tier

11. Ro-Kyu-Bu! - Yeah it wasn’t amazing, but I loved every second. All the basketball related episodes were awesome, but the rest I could have done without. Am I the only one that loved Aoi? Anyways, I will truly miss my loliball; especially since there doesn’t seem to be an immediate replacement. Also, best school uniforms of the season by far; too bad they hardly ever wore them.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #7 (-4)
12. Nichijou - I failed to have this in my halfway rankings, but I never really dropped it. While it didn’t have the impact of K-ON!, it only got stronger as the show progressed since it could really build upon the various character tropes. In the beginning most of the humor didn’t resonate, but near the end I enjoyed almost all of it. It’s sad that it’s ending once the cast was finally fleshed out.
    Summer Halfway Rank: N/A
13. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni! - Pretty much followed the same formula as the first season, but unlike with Kaiji or Natsume it wasn’t necessarily a good thing. While it’s always nice to have a known quantity of slapstick and cute girls to fall back on, it annoys me when a show tries to advance character relationships only to effectively reinstate the status quo.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #13
14. Mayo Chiki! - It was truly garbage, but it was garbage that I enjoyed watching. Similar to BakaTest, we got some slapstick with cute girls. However, this show could learn a lot from BakaTest if it ever gets a second season: you can only take the status quo so far before becoming irritating.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #15 (+1)
15. Dantalian no Shoka - This show has so much potential, but it decided to stick to a monster of the week format instead of developing its characters. Once we finally did start to learn about the characters, the show was over. Truly a shame.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #12 (-3)
16. Yuruyuri - This show really impressed me near the end. There’s not many shows that I abhor after the first episode or two that I actually end up not only watching the entire way, but actually enjoying. The humor is simple and repetitive, but I guess putting a yuri spin on things helps everything. I don’t think I could take another season anytime soon, but I take back the bad things I initially said about this show.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #16
17. No. 6 - Ugh. Well the homolust didn’t bother me at all; what bothered me was the rushed ending. I’m sure I could make sense of it by watching it again and reading up on the net, but it just doesn’t feel worth the effort. They really needed an embodiment of No. 6’s evil; just saying “that city” or “that facility” is an atrocity isn’t good enough. The characters obviously felt hatred, but as a viewer I couldn’t sympathize. A good start that ended poorly.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #10 (-7)
18. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée - Perhaps I had unfair expectations of this show (anticipated and first impressions ranked #1). I’m disappointed they didn’t explore Paris more and instead focused on character interactions that didn’t amount to much. The ending just seemed abrupt; right when they were starting to flesh out the characters.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #11 (-8)

Shit Tier

19. Sacred Seven - I guess it’s bad that the most memorable thing about this show was gg’s troll opening. I’m disappointed that the geology club or whatever is was was superfluous to the plot. I still don’t know what the sacred seven is.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #18 (-1)
20. Itsuka Tenma no Kuro-Usagi - Another show I had high expectations for that fell through. I guess there are some things cute girls with gradient hair can’t save. Perhaps the most frustrating main character of the year.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #17 (-3)
21. Kami-sama no Memo-chou - This show was pretentious. It tried to get all dark and serious on you, but in the end the characters and situation have not changed. This is probably the only show this season that I regret watching the entire way.
    Summer Halfway Rank: #20 (-1)