It’s now New Year’s Day here in the US, and like always, I want to do a “picks of the year” type post to celebrate. I started participating in the blogsphere’s annual “12 moments of anime” project in 2009. Since last year however, I’ve preferred to list my moments all in one post, unlike other bloggers who give each moment its own post. I usually reserve New Year’s to countdown my favorite anime of the year, but since I’ve already done that via The AniBloggers’ Choice Awards, I’ll be posting my 12 moments today instead. So, without further adieu, here are my 12 best anime-related moments of 2011…
#12: Completing 300 anime titles
In September, my MAL list finally hit 300 completed anime titles. I didn’t reach that milestone with the most dignified anime (my 300th was the Haganai OVA), but it still felt like a great accomplishment as a fan even though I knew I’d reach that number eventually.
#11: Rewatching many anime
Towards the end of 2010, I made a semi-New Year’s resolution with myself to rewatch as many of my favorite anime as I can in 2011. Though I love to rewatch anime if it’s a series I really like, for some reason I have trouble finding the time and motivation for it among watching seasonal shows. But I’m proud to say that I stuck to it and rewatched quite a few series in 2011. Starting with rewatching Wolf’s Rain and Angel Beats! in late 2010, in 2011 I rewatched Cowboy Bebop, Eden of the East, Toradora!, Canaan, Itazurana Kiss, OreImou, and even newer titles like AnoHana and Madoka (both of which I watched with my mom though she didn’t like them as much as I had hoped). And just yesterday I started rewatching Code Geass because I have extra time with all the seasonal shows having a New Year’s hiatus. There are still a few more anime I want to rewatch and then I’ll hopefully motivate myself to watch more older shows I haven’t yet seen. That shall be my resolution for 2012 XD
#10: Maintaining a blog for five years
Obviously my blog turns a year older every year, but it turned five years old in 2011 and I think that’s a pretty big milestone. I honestly think that 2011 was one of my blog’s best years in terms of generating comments and discussion (thanks to wonderful visitors like you!) I hope to continue that trend in 2012 ^_^
#9: Haruhi movie on Blu-ray
The release of the Haruhi movie in 2010 was a huge deal for me; I took a trip to San Fransisco to see it in theaters during its US premiere in May 2010, and I also took another trip to West Hollywood to see it again in another screening about a month later. And finally, in September 2011, it was released on DVD/BD in the US. It feels great to finally own a copy of one of my most anticipated anime of recent years XD
#8: Getting back into Japanese self-study
From roughly mid-2004 to mid-2009, I studied Japanese formally at college, first at my junior college and then up to Advanced Japanese at my university. Since I graduated over two years ago, I’ve been meaning to keep up my studies on my own, but was hardly able to do so in 2010. It was mostly due to having a job with no vacation time other than a few 3-day weekends, thus I wanted to just be lazy whenever I did have time off. This year however, especially since I quite my job four months ago and have had lots of free time, I got myself fully back into Japanese self-study – I’ve been having 3+ hour study sessions about once every 1-2 weeks (compared to once every couple of months like I had previously), I’ve put together a new method of kanji and vocabulary learning for myself that seems to be working (since I already have a good grasp of Japanese grammar, kanji and vocab are what I need to focus on), and I started writing journal entries in Japanese on Lang-8 in March. I plan to continue my studies as much as I can in 2012 =D
#7: The disasters in Japan
Since this is far from a positive moment, I wasn’t sure whether to include it or not. While it’s not a favorable moment like the others, I felt it should be part of my list since it was just so impacting to everyone, even if they don’t have a special tie to Japan through anime the way we do. This isn’t so much a moment for myself as it is for me to give a moment to all the people who died and suffered during these disasters, as well as all those who helped out in any way they could. Even though the earthquake/tsunami disasters in March 2011 didn’t affect the anime world too much other than some delays and event cancellations, it was still an extremely saddening, emotional, and frightening time for all of us who followed the event online even if we weren’t there in person. Something like this happening in any country is a horrible thing, but it affected me a lot more because of my special feelings for Japan. I hope 2012 is a much better year for the land of the rising sun!
#6: Angel Beats! on Blu-ray
Like the Haruhi movie, I was eagerly anticipating a US release of Angel Beats! and finally got my wish in 2011. Even though I like the Haruhi movie better, I rated the AB! release higher on my moments because I wasn’t as certain it would even get a US release, much less a Blu-ray release, anytime soon. It wasn’t simulcast when it aired and it took a while for Sentai to license it. But thankfully they did and it became the first anime series I bought on Blu-ray =) Although the English dub wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, it was still a nice release.
#5: US release of Pokemon Black and White
The Japanese release of Pokemon Black and White ranked #1 on my last list of moments. The US release that came out in 2011 was still a big event for me, but not quite as big since I had already played the Japanese version. What was equally as exciting as the US release of the games themselves was the promotional mall tours that were being held a few weeks before the games’ release. The mall tour I went to was tons of fun, as are the games themselves of course =D
#4: Madoka Magica
It’s no surprise that my #1 anime of year had to have a place on my list of moments for the year =) I’ve already praised Madoka enough so I won’t say anymore about it here. I’m sure you’ve all seen it by now and know whether you agree that it’s praise-worthy or not.
#3: Moving up to Blu-ray
In April 2011, I purchased my first Blu-ray player and first movies on BD. I’ve had a 40″ HD TV for over a year, but for a while I was hesitant to take the step up to Blu-ray. I finally gave in though, and have been enjoying it immensely. I’m slowly building a collection of anime and movies on BD, and I don’t have to worry about all my DVDs being obsolete anytime soon since I can play them all on upscaled quality on my Blu-ray player. The high quality picture on Blu-ray really is worth it for newer anime and movies with their more detailed imagery. I’m glad I decided to upgrade =D
#2: Anime Expo 2011
Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in North America, has been my yearly highlight every year I’ve gone. It ranked much higher on my moments for 2011 than 2010 because I was able to go all four days and had tons of fun ^_^ I’ve already posted about it in detail here, but to summarize, I bought lots of anime goodies, hung out with great friends, met some fellow bloggers in person, went to rocking events, and saw incredible cosplay. AX 2012 can’t come soon enough!
#1: Haruhi novels 10 and 11
Imagine your favorite series going on an unexplained hiatus for four years in the middle of a cliffhanger story with no clear idea of when it will be returning. Then, imagine the joy you feel when that series finally comes back with not just one, but a double release, as if to compensate for all those years of waiting and wondering. That’s what I experienced with Haruhi in 2011. Since it’s been my favorite series for many years now, I’m not only into the anime but the original light novels as well. Novel 9, published in 2007, ended on a cliffhanger, and other than a short preview chapter in April 2010, there was no new novel material again until 2011’s release of volumes 10 and 11. I was so ecstatic about it that I even provided some unofficial fan translations of portions of the novels. There certainly were some great anime moments this year, but when your favorite series has a release like this, how could it not be #1? =)
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Anyway, I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year! ^_^ Here’s to more great anime in 2012! See you soon~
Five years is a long, long time. Kudos to you for keeping at it.
I’ve been at it for just about a year and I already feel like this has been going on for a long time. So my top moment would have to be starting to blog (properly).
The Haruhi novels would find a spot somewhere in my top 10 as well. Despite the very simple language, they seem to have an enchanting effect. Just like the movie, the novels showed us a more decisive and plot-heavy side of the series. Thanks for the translations (to you and to ultimatemegax).
Glad you enjoyed our translations of the Haruhi novels ^_^ And keep up the good work on your blog~
Happy new year!
I knew that the 300 mark and Pokemon BW would be on there. :)
I usually only rewatch anime that I loved. I’d never rewatch AnoHana or ItaKiss. But I’m glad you had the time to experience some of your favorite shows again! I hope you get to watch some of the anime on your Plan to Watch list soon. Particularly Baccano! and Gankutsuou. :)
Happy New Year~
LOL, I can’t believe how much further ahead of me you’ve gotten in terms of completed anime XD
Back when I watched ItaKiss as it aired, I thought it would be an anime my mom would like (plus I personally really enjoyed it). So I watched it again with her and she liked it. There aren’t many anime she’d like so I have to cherry pick. I watched AnoHana with her too but it was a bit too melodramatic for her XD
After Code Geass I want to rewatch Eureka 7 and possibly Hayate no Gotoku. Then I’ll try to move on to my “plan to watch” list. I’ll keep Baccano! and Gankutsuou in mind.
Happy New Year!
My advice for Japanese, read, read, read. Manga’s fine, whatever works.
I took 3 years in college and then read, read, read and these days my ability is much better than it ever was..
Happy New Year to you, too.
Oh, I certainly read Japanese as part of my studying. I’ve been re-reading the main text portions of my college textbooks (which contain several paragraphs each in Japanese about a certain topic). And I’ve also been reading some of my Japanese anime books. I recently finished reading two Pokemon movie books in Japanese that I have. They’re good since they have furigana. I have a bunch of Inuyasha manga volumes in Japanese so I’ll probably start reading them again.
Wow, my MAL is like 1/3 of yours!
I’m more likely to watch new series rather than watch the old ones, but good anime like “Angel Beats!” or “Eve no Jikan” are worth of one or more re-watch, of course!
I saw a video of the Anime Expo 2011 and looks awesome! Since it’s and expensive trip, I’m saving to go this year, is as good as it looks? Btw, did you saw Miku concert?
I used to rewatch anime a lot more in my early years as a fan because new anime wasn’t nearly as easy to access for me as it is now. Since roughly 2007 I’ve mostly been watching seasonal anime with only a few older shows here and there. In 2011 I only watched like, one or two older shows, the least amount of any year I think. So I need to change that in 2012 XD
Cool, I hope you can make it to Expo this year. I would say it’s as good as it looks. And no, I didn’t go to the Miku concert since I don’t have much interest in Vocaloids. But I know a lot of people who did see it and they all said it was awesome.
Congrats to you! Here’s hoping your blog will last for a long time~! :D
Haha, I wish I was as dedicated as you to the Haruhi franchise. Unforunately, I still haven’t watched the movie yet and I’ve been frantically searching the first volume of the light novel that was released in my country years ago.
Pokemon Black&White was probably one of the best things to happen this year in my opinion. Even if I didn’t have the chance to use all of the little features such as Wi-Fi battles and such, the story with N was largely enough for me.
This might be rather misplaced to ask at the end of my comment, but would you mind making a link exchange with my little blog? I’ve been wanting to say that for years now, haha. Oh, and Happy New Year! Good health and good luck with your Japanese studies!
You’ll enjoy the Haruhi movie =) And which country do you live in? I think all the volumes have been released in Asian countries, and here in the US we’re up to volume 6 with 7 on the way in June.
I too was thoroughly impressed with the storyline in Pokemon B&W. They were pretty gutsy to use such a plot and I thought it was great. Now if only they would announce Pokemon Gray/Ruby & Sapphire remakes/a new Coliseum Wii game…
And since you asked so nicely, I’ll be glad to exchange links. I’ll do that now…your blog’s name is kind of long XD
Where I live, (France) the publication of the volumes has been suspended due to weak sales of the first volume D:
I’m with you on that. The wait is too long…
Thank you so much! ^_^; I’m really sorry about that, lol.
Five years is a pretty long time. Pretty awesome :D
I had been thinking about purchasing some blu-rays but still quite hesitant. Besides, I don’t have an actual BD player at home. I don’t have a PS3 nor a blu-ray player and the only thing that can play BD is my CPU w/ a 28″ HD monitor ;D Pretty large TV-like screen for a computer monitor but it still pales in comparison to real LCD/LED TVs :x
I think Blu-rays would look good on that size monitor. And you could always buy some for your favorite series/movies in preparation for when you do buy an actual BD player and/or large HD TV. I use my HD TV for everything – watching BDs/DVDs, using the computer, and playing video games.
Happy New Year!
Rewatching anime is something I always intend to do, but only really get around to with others doing marathons. It usually comes down to rewatching things or getting stuck into a bit more of my enormous backlog – and the backlog wins!
I have several enormous wallets full of DVDs, though. So I can always go back to my favourites sooner or later.
Happy New Year to you, too~
It sounds like you have friends that you marathon anime with sometimes. That must be fun. I don’t usually watch anime with others…at least not long marathons. I used to in my college anime club though :3
What a coincidence, I also reached my 300th anime in 2011, but it seems the anime I watched were much shorter than yours. I still have a year and a half to go before I reach my 5th year of blogging, hopefully I’ll still be around for it to actually happen.
I managed to finally beat the elite four in Pokemon White during the Christmas break. When I went to explore the new areas, the trainers and pokemon were a lot stronger than I expected. It’s nothing like the Red/Blue versions that I played as a child, but still a fun game.
Yeah, the reason my “amount of days watched” on my MAL is so long is because I’ve watched many long-running series and I also keep track (roughly) of everything I’ve rewatched too.
Congrats on the accomplishment in Pokemon White. I’ve been playing all the main series Pokemon games since Red/Blue but Black/White were indeed quite different from their predecessors, Diamond/Pearl. I beat the Elite Four a long time ago and have been working on completing my Poke-Dex since. I think I have about 400-ish pokemon now.
Yeah, though usually we decide to watch something with 26+ episodes so never get through it – I’m still halfway through Umineko, for example. I have a little portable projector so we can sometimes go to someone’s house and put it up nice and big on a wall.
Happy new year! Great moments were had last year. I agree with number one, the Haruhi novels were really, really, good. And I have to thank you since it was thank to your work I was able to read them :) So a big Thank You!
300 anime series! I’ve never counted the ones I’ve watched but it’s probably less than 100. That’s a lot! I’ll get there some day.
Happy new year! And let’s hope we get more great anime this year as well :)
Happy New Year!
Glad you enjoyed the Haruhi novels =) And if you ever want to keep track of anime you watch, MyAnimeList.net is a great site.
Happy new year XD
I’m not really looking forward to the angel betas blu-ray, i’m more concerned if there’s actually going to have an angel beats game
An Angel Beats! game? That would be cool =)
Good job with the Five Years! Happy new year.
I need to move up to Bluray, I’ve got piles of DVD’s and it’s probably about time to move up to HD.
Thanks~
Yeah, I was hesitant about moving up to Blu-ray too. But I managed to find a good deal on a new Blu-ray player for only $99. All your old DVDs get upscaled, which is nice, and BDs aren’t terribly more expensive than DVDs used to be. It’s the big HD TV that was expensive…working full time in the summer of 2010 was how I was able to afford it XD
Wow…three hundered titles, impressive. Here I am on a lonely eighty-ish. But then again I am pretty finicky on what I watch…