UlasanAnime.com – As the year 2012 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on the anime that made a significant impact. This review will delve into various categories, from top TV anime to memorable characters and industry insights.
Let’s get to it.
Top 12 TV anime!
- Tsuritama
- Jintai
- Tari Tari
- Chihayafuru
- Fate/Zero
- Joshiraku
- Girls und Panzer
- Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou
- Mouretsu Pirates
- Hyouka
- Sengoku Collection
- Nisemonogatari
Honorable mentions go to movies like Eva Q, Letter to Momo, Wolf Children, K-ON and what have you. Yuru Yuri almost made it–trust me on this. There are possibly a couple shows this ongoing season that could also make this list alongside Girls und Panzer, but they haven’t ended yet.
Remarkable TV anime 2012 but didn’t make my top list! (Not ranked)
- Ano Natsu de matteru – Love the nostalgia, but lacked that something.
- Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere – Fun show but ultimately a problematic experience
- Aquarion Evol – Fun way to wrap up the Aquarion experience, but it’s…Aquarion.
- Another – More horror needs to be done this way, too bad it cannot be taken seriously
- Guilty Crown – Well.
- Mirai Nikki – Batshit Insane on TV
- Lupin the III: Fujiko – Showing more people what’s great but critically flawed with Sayo Yamamoto’s stuff.
- Upotte – I will never look at some guns the same ever again
- Oda Nobuna – This is good entertainment.
- Kids on the Slope – Great show except it’s super boring
- Natsuiro Kiseki – Finally, the Sphere anime that was suppose to exist, even if by artifice.
- Kuroko’s Basketball – Not bad at all, but who set up us the bomb?
Twelve 2012 protagonists that are chuunibyou – I felt like listing how the protagonists are sick with chuunibyou. Ranked by quality of their delusions.
- Muuta (Space Bros) – I am an astronaut! – He wanted to be one, he became one after hard work and pluck. And it’s a great achievement.
- Marika (Mouretsu Pirates) – I am a space pirate! – She is a space pirate, and got to be one only because of hard work, humility and a studious attitude befitting a model young lady of her status.
- Godou (Campigone!) – I kick butts and kiss! I ran out of things to kiss! – I think this is pretty quality, do you not agree? Sure beats Mikado (DRRR) etc.
- Shugo (Nakaimo) – I am a milti-millionare with a bunch of sluts who I have to choose for a wife, and they are also future CEOs, accountants, board members, etc. – At least, this delusion is worth having, since it’s not likely ever to be true for anyone, and only worth having as a delusion and not a real life sort of thing.
- Panda (Polar Bear Cafe) – I am panda! – It’s pretty good overall, even if it’s a little tame.
- Satoshi (Hyouka) – I am a database! – I’d love to have this guy as my coworker.
- Rito (To-love-ru) – Not only I have an interstellar harem, I run into my harem posed in compromising situations week in and week out – Beats Akito’s (see below). And it’s not too horrible I guess.
- Akito (Oniai) – I am a pro incest fiction writer with a harem (IMOUTO included)! – I mean, okay. Sisucon is one thing, sisucon fiction? That’s just a shade or 50 OTT.
- Haruyuki (Accel World) – I am a talented gamer in a relationship with someone I admire – well, at least porky works hard and has help to overcome some realistic and sensible difficulties. But I docked him for having too much help at times! Like Yuniko…
- Shuu (Guilty Crown) – I am magic Hitler with a girlfriend straight out of youtube! – Who ever wants to be that? But it’s darn cool. At least we can’t accuse him for being unoriginal.
- Kirito (SAO) – I am an awesome gamer at this MMORPG with a perfect waifu! – It’s a pretty good fantasy to be “stuck” playing a game you love for a few years, with a doctor’s note. But that’s the only redeeming part of this story. I dock Kirito mainly for the tack-on and pedestrian revenge-satisfaction angle.
- Oreki (Hyouka) – I am Sherlock but lazier! – He’s savvy but ultimately applies his talents incorrectly–eg., spent it on petty, worthless things. While he might not be the lamest chuu2 in 2012 it’s pretty darn lame, and it reflects on his rank. Good thing there’s a Chitanda to right that ship.
Twelve MFWs and Feels in 2012 worth sharing (because, like, why not?). By MFW I mean “My face when” as in the net speak of describing a situation in order to express a feeling. MFWs are prefaced by MFW.
- When Tonari ni… comes on the MP3 player while driving through the snow.
- MFW Tonari ni Jazz version comes on the MP3 player while driving through the snow.
- Beating Kazahana on master mode the first time.
- After watching an episode of Girls und Panzer
- MFW watching Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou
- Last episode of Fate/Zero.
- Winning the auction for Fate/Zero script.
- MFW rocking out @ Kotoko’s concert
- KBBQ after Jam Project concert (after midnight, breaking ~12hr “fast”)
- MFW watching Oniai OP for the first time
- When LiSA began doing her thing on the AX 2012 Red Carpet
- When I bought my first iM@S DLC
Twelve things about Sawa Osaki that I liked.
- She’s no Hiromi
- Well-use of her wiles
- Eager and enthusiastic
- Appropriately temperamental
- A real buddy
- Can sing, and does
- Can dance
- Can ride the horse
- Can work a bow & arrow
- Takes off clothes & put them on!
- Is not Noe
- Has a good style
And the rest–the top 12 female characters:
- Nobuna (Oda Nobuna) – My Girlfriend is the President, right?
- Yukari (Girls und Panzer) – Good girl runner up
- Nyarko – The Old Moe One.
- Ringo (Seitokai no Ichizon) – She is invincible.
- Kukuru (Joshiraku) – Stylish!
- Eureka (E7Ao) – Kaori Nazuka’s got a child since Eureka 7, and so did her most beloved character.
- Yuno (Mirai Nikki) – Well, this one is just hard to top.
- Remon (Anonatsu) – She looks good in black
- Inaban (Kokoro Connect) – So intense!
- Sig (Upotte) – Just a lot of admirable qualities!
- Saki (Natsuiro Kiseki) – Wins the 2012 Good Girl award.
- Frau (Robotic;notes) – This girl is something special
2012 Seiyuu spotlights – just some names that jumped out at me as I look back to the shows I watched this year. All of them had at least one outstanding role.
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- Shiori Mikami
- Rumi Oukubo
- Sumire Uesuka
- Haruka Tomatsu
- Ayahi Takagaki
- Mai Nakahara
- Mikako Komatsu
- Azami Asakura
- Yumi Hara
- Kana Asumi
- Kana Hanazawa
- Kaori Ishihara
My 2012 iDOLM@STER character ranking–this includes all aspects of the game and fandom so far–including how I feel about the live shows, the fans, and what else is out there. Naturally I’m excluding Kotori, but all the new and Dearly Stars characters will not get much of a nod simply because they just don’t have that much content to them.
- Makoto
- Miki
- Takane
- Mami/Ami
- Ritsuko
- Iori
- Yukiho
- Haruka
- Hibiki
- Chihaya
- Yayoi
- Azusa
Iori sure made a big jump!
Twelve figures I received year. I wish it was also the 12 figures I paid for this year, but alas. At least I think I did better this year than last year…
- Fate/Tiger Colosseum – Saber Lion – Nendoroid #050 (Good Smile Company)
- The iDOLM@STER- Amami Haruka – 1/7 – Angelic Island ver. (Kotobukiya)
- The iDOLM@STER – Hoshii Miki – 1/7 – Angelic Island ver. (Kotobukiya)
- The iDOLM@STER – Kikuchi Makoto – 1/7 – Angelic Island ver. (Kotobukiya)
- IS: Infinite Stratos – Charlotte Dunois – 4-Leaves – 1/7 – Bunny Style (Kotobukiya)
- Fate/Hollow Ataraxia – Saber Alter – Beach Queens – 1/10 – Swimsuit ver. (Wave)
- Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt – Knee Socks – SIF EX (Yamato)
- Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai – Honma Meiko – 1/7 – Swimsuit ver. (Max Factory)
- Fate/Zero – Saber – 1/8 – Motored Cuirassier (Good Smile Company)
- IS: Infinite Stratos – Shinonono Houki – Beach Queens – 1/10 – Swimsuit ver. (Wave)
- Rurouni Kenshin – Saitou Hajime – G.E.M. – 1/8 (MegaHouse)
- Vocaloid – Hatsune Miku – 1/8 – Love is War DX ver. (Good Smile Company)
- Fate/Unlimited Codes – Saber Lily – 1/7 – Distant Avalon (Good Smile Company)
I’ve managed to sell some. What’s left is still available here. I’ll take down the sticky post.
Twelve seiyuu in my XCOM playthrough (I didn’t have 12 dead ones, so I listed them randomly starting with the dead ones):
- Aya Hisakawa
- Aki Toyosaki
- Yumi Hara
- Kotono Mitsuishi
- Sumire Uesuka
- Hisako Kanemoto
- Yuko Gotoh
- Aya Hirano
- Haruka Tomatsu
- Yuu Hisakawa
- Ayahi Takagaki
- Yui Ogura
Twelve industry notes for 2012:
- Kickstarters for manga, and then the Kickstarter for a Production IG project
- Aniplex USA strategy seems to make some headway, various interviews indicate
- Bandai stops taking retail orders, various streaming licenses revert, and other things come to a head.
- Nicovideo reverts entirely back to JP, opens up multilingual UI
- Way too many seiyuu idol debuts. Way.
- Bamco wets foot for oversea moe game market by … trademarking?
- Eva 3.0 tops some questionably relevant box office statistics in 2012, along with other anime films.
- That Japan Expo stuff begins US invasion via NorCal expansion.
- Ijime Connect was sad but what’s more sad is how it ruins a perfectly okay anime.
- Urobuchi is making a ton of crap in the next 5 years is good news for everyone
- Oscar jockey means low-key, high-artistry animu films will all squeeze for nominations in 2013.
- Viki, Tezuka Pro and Nozomi make the old new.
Taking stock of seiyuu. Females only. See this biglobe poll for details and inspiration, but the below list (ranked) is just my own personal observation. I’m sure if I watched different shows in 2012 or went to or watched different people’s lives, it would change.
- Kana Hanazawa
- Miyuki Sawashiro
- Kana Asumi
- Ai Kayano
- Kaori Ishihara
- Ayahi Tagakagi
- Yui Ogura
- Aki Toyosaki
- Kanae Itou
- Rumi Ookubo
- Saori Hayami
- Mai Nakahara
Special notes for Yuki Aoi, Haruka Tomatsu, Satomi Satou and most of YRYR cast for making it big but not making it on the list. And yes, Mariya Ise is always on my radar too. Newbie notes for Mikako Komatsu, Asami Seto, Sachika Misawa, and Ibuki Kido for splashing noobs on the radar, and maybe I can put Aimi Terakawa in there too. Props to Fumiko Orikasa, Ai Nonaka (HNNNNG), Aya Hirano, Yuuka Nanri and Haruko Momoi for coming to America, signing my stuff and answering various questions. Major props to all iM@S (main games) seiyuu for getting me to pay for your work-product. You deserved it!
And that’s it!
Year in review 2012:
