Favourite Anime and Manga from 2011 with Anime UK News

Genkina Hito

Genkina Hito

映画男！！！
With 2011 finished, now is the perfect time to reflect upon which anime and manga made a mark over the course of the year, so the writers, editors, and news journalists of Anime UK News have contributed their thoughts to an <a href="http://www.animeuknews.net/article/73/aukn-looks-back-over-a-year-in-anime-">article</a> where they rate the best and worst in anime, manga. The opinions vary but it provides an interesting read. So as we wave goodbye to 2011 and stride forth to embrace the anime of 2012, see which titles brought a smile to the faces of the Anime UK News staff.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/genkinahito/6608494311/" title="Tomodachi Yozora by Mercury Rex, on Flickr"></a>

Did your favourite anime get a mention or was it left in the cold? Did Haganai deserve more respect or was Madoka the mahou title of the year? Let us know what you think and head on over to the <a href="http://www.animeuknews.net/article/73/aukn-looks-back-over-a-year-in-anime-">article</a> and contribute your opinions!
 
Needs more Sound of the Sky. That would definitely be my top DVD release of the year.

I'm also not sure that I'd say FMA:B was the worst DVD release purely because the Blu-Ray was cancelled...and I actually liked Christina Vee's extras on the K-ON! dvds. It's asking the voice actresses the same questions that bored me.

As for best streaming...boy it's a tough one between Steins;Gate and Tiger & Bunny. Those two, with Puella Magi Madoka Magica, make up my top 3 titles of 2011.
 
*The Lack of Usagi Drop* :cry:

Other than that best streaming for me goes to Steins;Gate (SONUVABICH), Worst Streaming goes hands down to Deadman Wonderland, DW went completely down the toilet after either episode 4/5.

Didn't get as many anime DVD/Blu-ray as I'd have liked so I'm going to pass on that one.
 
Glad to see Steins;Gate got the love it deserves. I am surprised at the lack of Tiger & Bunny though. I thought that would be more popular.
 
It was quite a strong year even with several important titles being absent from our streaming menu (Mawaru Penguindrum was the most disappointing omission for me). I dropped Steins;Gate to wait to enjoy the home video version but had enjoyed what I saw very much. Tiger and Bunny beat it out though for not having any characters I wanted to strangle nearly as much as Mayushii >_>;

I knew I'd like T&B but I was taken aback by quite how much I got into it. The first couple of episodes were decent but during episode three, suddenly it clicked and became a firm favourite.

The least enjoyable things I saw streaming were R-15 and Nichijou, neither of which I could get through at all. And I skipped the lovely Usagi Drop in streaming form as I'm collecting the manga, sorry Lasershark :)

R
 
Both Usagi Drop and Tiger & Bunny are on my personal top 10 list, it's just that Steins;Gate impressed me the most.

Like Rui said, 2011 was an great year for anime and I have many honorable mentions in the streaming category such as those two I just mentioned, Fate/Zero, Un-Go and Level-E.
 
The Sailor Moon reprint was definitely a significant event for the west, though less so for me (I already had the manga in another language and prefer the anime, which I also already have). Sailor Moon was such a significant quality boost over the previous English version that it stood out, but overall I'm very negative about rereleases since I'd rather see completely new content.

It was great seeing how well it sold, though.

R
 
Rui said:
And I skipped the lovely Usagi Drop in streaming form as I'm collecting the manga, sorry Lasershark :)

R
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Well at least that's sorted then :)

At least knowing that the Ani-Blogger community voted Usagi Drop into Number 2 Best anime of 2011 slot (some magical girl show was voted in at 1) has made me more upbeat :D
 
Thanks, interesting read! There's defo some ainime on those lists I simply have to check out.

My favourite anime of the year 2011(UK release anyway) is without a doubt Redline. Comparing anything else to Redline's muscle contracting, testicle tingling, tweak producing and utterly smile inducing gorgeous visual trip, is like comparing a Ford mondeo estate with a vintage 1950's Cadillac that's had a quantum physical nuclear reactor stuck in it's bonnet. But most importantly, it had heart.

I haven't seen Five Leaves yet though, and something tells me it probably would be right up my street.

Usagi Drops was also shaping up to be a favorite until some (cruel,cruel) person lead me to find out how the source material ended.....I refused to watch another episode ever since :(

Worst anime (I didn't watch much bad anime): Both Eden movies....really disappointed me, especially since Eden the series was my anime of 2010.
 
vashdaman said:
Usagi Drops was also shaping up to be a favorite until some (cruel,cruel) person lead me to find out how the source material ended.....I refused to watch another episode ever since :(
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Seems a bit daft to me =/ The anime doesn't end that way so why not enjoy it separately? The fact Trigun ends differently in the manga doesn't affect my enjyment of the anime. (I mean I do understand why the manga ending to UD is troubling or at least weird for you, and indeed for many including me :p but I don't think it invalidates my point)
 
vashdaman said:
Usagi Drops was also shaping up to be a favorite until some (cruel,cruel) person lead me to find out how the source material ended.....I refused to watch another episode ever since :(
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The anime doesn't end like that...thank goodness.
 
I'd go along with the Sailor Moon release. Usagi Drop, Un-Go, were good, as were Nichijou, Deadman Wonderland, and (so far) Mirai Nikki.
 
vashdaman said:
Usagi Drops was also shaping up to be a favorite until some (cruel,cruel) person lead me to find out how the source material ended.....I refused to watch another episode ever since :(
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When the first episode of Usagi Drop aired last summer, I remember an article that refused to rate it, just because he knew the manga end and decided to rant on that.

Still the anime series should not put you off, it's sweet, adorable and one of the best Slice-Of-Life series of the year in my opinion.
 
The stuff about the ending of Usagi Drop really annoyed me; as soon as it started airing everyone kept dropping hints about the ending which even the most innocent person could draw conclusions from (and some outright spoiled it). Which particularly sucked for me as I wasn't even viewing the stream, I was collecting the English manga which has been coming out slowly.

I wish they could at least have kept their mouths shut until the anime finished its run, rather than launching all of the spoilers in impressions of the very first episode.

Rant over!

R
 
Yeah, I completely agree with all the above posts. It is very silly of me, but I can be a bit silly sometimes. The anime I saw was witty, sweet and warm hearted, so hopefully one day I'll go back and simply enjoy it for what it is, rather than what the manga is.
 
Ah.

vashdaman said:
My favourite anime of the year 2011(UK release anyway) is without a doubt Redline. Comparing anything else to Redline's muscle contracting, testicle tingling, tweak producing and utterly smile inducing gorgeous visual trip, is like comparing a Ford mondeo estate with a vintage 1950's Cadillac that's had a quantum physical nuclear reactor stuck in it's bonnet. But most importantly, it had heart.
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I quite venomously disliked Redline when I saw it last week. I thought it was a massive exercise in style over substance, and a pretty limp attempt at something deliberately anarchic and supposedly mind blowing. Won't be going back for a re-watch.

I'm going to go and murder some puppies and cute little bunny rabbits in the back of my Ford Mondeo now.
 
Umm ok.

Well, for it's worth I wouldn't have described Redline as being particularly anarchic (It was a pretty traditional story of an underdog, a love interest and all the other usual stuff) or mind blowing. I would rather stick to the description of it being testicle tingling and having heart.

But maybe that's because I never followed the pre- release hype and wasn't expecting anything anarchic or mind blowing. I also think seeing it in the cinema helped a lot too, it's a movie made for the big screen.
 
glad to see house of five leaves get so many mentions, even though it was released at the end of the year the tatami galaxy would have to be my favourite dvd
 
I'd like to put Hana-Saku Iroha since that was a pleasant show, with nice character designs by Mel. Nichijou was good as well if a bit long
 
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