9) Puella Magi Madoka Magica
okay, only after following the 3 rules does this make a top 10 list. so sure, madoka's a top 10 anime of 2011 if you don't include any that are continuing through Jan, any that didn't start before the start of the year, and those i completed. but really that's just a matter of placement, i did quite love this show. it was different. at the start of the year it stood out for being not just good, but with a weird premise of opening themes attacking. and then things are kinda slow until episode 3 and 4 where you go "uhhhh what just happened."
then it continues to spiral into an incredibly dark series from an unexpected result. and that basically created one of the best characters all season in Kyubei. didn't care about Madoka. didn't like half the cast there either - Mami rather sucked. i love her attack style, but as a character she was pretty bad and got worse in the other timelines with Homura. her going crazy was just a giant 'this is a bad character.' Sayaka meanwhile was just dumb start to finish. Kyouko was awesome. Homura was the only really good character there and might be the badass of the season (i'd say 2nd though). hammerspace for a power is awesome, and being a one woman army is fun stuff. the character made sense and was great all around. she was the 2nd best character of the show behind the adorable demon, but still one of the best all season. ditto for the show really. great show and i'm fine with the ending. wouldn't really call it bittersweet though because... nobody's really all that bitter about it. madoka's satisfied with it. Homura still wants her but still goes on and knows she's around her at all times. but really, it was a complete ending. not sweet, not bitter, more ironic if anything because they probably DID speed up the end of the universe for the sake of a couple little girls.
8) Fate/zero
yes, only 8.
it's the unquestionable king of animation all season. gorgeous looking. it also has a lot of great characters, of which, Rider is the badass of the season. that man deserves to be on the greatest of all time list. Gil was pretty damn fun too - few scenes this year top the wine grab. but the real thing that stops it is that this was only the first... half or third. not sure. they've done a fantastic job delivering content and i'm fine with the slower pace considering just how GOOD the animation is. the guys doing this know exactly what they're in charge of and aren't letting anyone down. if the show in full (as they want it) were to be crammed into a year it'd be No. 1 easy. can't even say i dislike anyone either. even the villains are friggin' awesome and you know the guy doing Caster's voice is having the time of his life with how utterly insane he sounds. can't help but smile. like i can't say i'd like a concentration of 13 episodes of any other show this season, it wins that category. but in terms of a complete show, it falls a bit flat because it's not. however it did finish its season, so it counts. Rider da best. then Gil. Lancer's awesome, but so are his masters for all the wrong reasons. Kotomine's great but really, Gil is the one who pushes that. Emiya's got an awesome style of magic, combat, and strategy to him. Waver is pretty much entirely made by Rider, but Caster's the 3rd best of the show behind Rider and Gil. insane is insanely awesome.
Saber still is lame. but better than Fate/Stay since she wears a suit and fights better. i enjoyed the negotiation quite a bit.
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The King Wang.
Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.