With most of Spring 2011 all wrapped up and the Summer 2011 season starting this weekend, it seemed a good time to line up all the series that have aired this year (excluding Fall 2010 carryovers) and see what’s what so far:
| Episode # : | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | AVG |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| AnoHana | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.955 | ||
| [C] | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.909 | ||
| Hanasaku Iroha | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.769 | |
| Puella Magi Madoka Magica | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.750 | |
| Deadman Wonderland | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.727 | ||
| Level-E | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.538 |
| Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.450 | |||
| Fractale | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.364 | ||
| Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season | 2.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.308 |
| Sket Dance (First Half) | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.308 |
| Ao no Exorcist (First Half) | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.273 | ||
| The World God Only Knows II | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3.250 | |
| Tiger & Bunny (First Half) | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.154 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Weekly Average | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.520 |
Stray Observations:
• Overall, Spring 2011 was a particularly good season. Even if I included the huge Fall 2010 season in the table above, the top three Spring series would still dominate the podium. Quality, not quantity. Summer 2011 has its work cut out for it.
• AnoHana, just an episode shy of perfection, became a personal favorite. [C] came two shy. These two series couldn’t be more different, but both rocked.
• Best Music: Taku Iwasaki. He provided the excellent score for [C], and has also scored Katanagatari, Gurren Lagann, Soul Eater, etc.
• Hanasaku Iroha sagged a bit in the middle there, but its first half began and ended extremely strong. And even those middle episodes had their charms. Looking forward to the second half this Summer.
• At first I didn’t quite know what to make of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, but it quickly found its stride and ended up one of my all-time favorites, despite its relatively modest score.
• Deadman Wonderland has just one episode to wrap everything up. This show deserves a second season. More than Tiger & Bunny.
• Level E and Denpa Onna both involve “aliens” of some kind – and both scored extremely consistent ratings. Moreso if Denpa’s final double episode is a good one.
• In hindsight, perhaps some episodes of Fractale were ranked too high. This is possibly due to the great visuals and imaginative setting, which carried that series.
• I was harsh in the beginning of Kimi ni Todoke’s second season, but perhaps that was just because I hadn’t quite settled back into the romantic futility. As a result, this series had the most rating variation.
• Sket Dance’s only flaw was its opening episode, with its red herring protagonist. Since then it’s been consistently funny and entertaining, so I’m sticking with it.
• I’m also optimistic about Ao no Exorcist‘s second half, but not as excited about Tiger & Bunny‘s. Prove me wrong, Tiger & Bunny!
• The World God Only Knows II took a dip of .167 below its first season. Hopefully, the third season will arrest that downward trend.
• Best Female Seiyu: Winter: Eri Kitamura as Sayaka in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Spring: Haruka Tomatsu as Anaru in AnoHana. She was also Megumi in Shiki.
• Best Male Seiyu: Winter: Level E’s “Prince”, Daisuke Namikawa.
Spring: Tomokazu Sugita as Sket Dance’s “Switch.”
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 