Twenty-twelve is on its end and it’s time to submit to tradition and peer pressure. I’m not a big one on dates and what not but it’s always a good excuse to party and introspect; it’s not like we need an excuse to party anyway!
In a nutshell I liked 2012, when many of its anime offerings are actually rather good. We can start out on, say Eva Q, or Goro Miyazaki’s breakout film. Heaven is a place on earth. We could look at the seasonal offerings. I watched an episode of Lupin. I watched more K-ON. I watched more Strike Witches. There was Seitokai no Ichizon. Danshi Kokousei no Nichijou. There was high action from Fate/Zero’s exciting conclusion, to the drawn out visuals of Guilty Crown. We went to space with Space Bros and Rinne, and looked for the SISTER AMONG US while quoting Shakespeare in Zetsuen no Tempest, Waiting in the Summer. Well, it was more like winter, AMIRITE? One thing we did a lot of is go online and play games. There are just way too many of those anime this year. I still averaged about 20 series a season. On the related front of non-anime adaptations, there was even a Kenshin to go with the Kenshin OAV/film re-releases.
I think it’s not an exaggeration to say that TV anime has turned the corner. We are squarely in the post-moe era now. It doesn’t take Psycho-Pass to do this, although it is no coincidence that it is airing at the same time as Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai. I mean, seriously, when chuunibyou is a commercialized item, complete with a production committee, you know this trend is about to disintegrate into pay dirt and lose all actual cred as a fandom item. Nor is it a coincidence regarding the utterance of moe in Psycho-Pass–that lack of moe or anti-moe is the new dead thing. The rise of Urobuchi in the wake of his post-Madoka success was already a go-ahead signal for the major players to change gears. At least, if you are not a game developer.
Speaking of him, it is nice to see Urobuchi for once. The con circuit in 2012 was fun as usual, although AX felt a bit muted. In exchange I had a blast at all the other cons this year, even NYCC. I think it’s still good time to scale things back a bit personally. We’ll see what’ 2013 has in store–I hear Otakon has a big time guest lined up already, ready to go in January. Still, I think I’m probably most excited about the Otakon music fest being a regular item, although the vibe I got is more like it’s probably not going to be something you should count on. At least, not the way that AFA probably can bring home the mother lode of wota idols. Sphere is an awesome get, and those people in Singapore on that fated date can have all my jelly.
And yes, we outsiders party and don’t necessarily pay. It’s the way we’ve rolled for decades, and 2012 is no exception. But I think the one thing that remain after all this time is that I’ve partied enough. It’s time to take a vacation or something. Maybe I will. Or at least do something different. The industry is showing their first-born fruits of new media paradigms like SJ Alpha while their older siblings truck on. FUNi, AN, CR and even Aniplex all took a step forward in 2012.
The world is certainly changing. Maybe that fact alone will leave some with a bad taste in their mouths. But I’d like to think we’re definitely better off in 2012 than we were at any point in anime’s history, in the history of this fandom, on average.
Because, up next, we are ladies…?
Year in review 2012:
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