I’m not even going to talk about the decade. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Six or seven paragraphs of Aria love, I guess. Let’s not go there.

My Ten Favorite Anime Series of 2009

1. Aoi Hana - Not so much a yuri show as it is a lovely story of friendship and how love exists in so many different forms, to be expressed in so many different ways. And, like everything Shichiro Kobayashi touches, it’s oh so pretty.
2. Clannad After Story - A fitting finale to the most genuinely touching and engaging of the Visual Art’s/Key adaptations. Tomoya and Ushio in a field of safflowers still makes me cry, no matter how many times I watch it.
3. K-ON! - A much more charming slice of life series and much better organized 4-koma adaptation than the “too cool for school” crowd would have you believe. The music angle, even if not the ultimate point of the show, makes for tasty seasoning if you’re as into that sort of thing as I am.
4. Toradora - As a romantic drama, it shines, even despite its hard on for existential philosophizing (a common disease of many light novel adaptations, it seems). Still, the anime series is a well conceived and carefully constructed piece of work that leaves me even more convinced that Tatsuyuki Nagai is truly one of the industry’s brightest new stars.
5. Hatsukoi Limited - Ah, the innocence of adolescent romance. I’m with Omo. Enomoto x Kusuda get the award for the year’s best couple, rivaled only by Chikura x myself.
6. Hayate no Gotoku!! - I’ll admit that it took a few episodes before I made peace with the change in tone from the first season, but a plot focused, late-night time slot romcom Hayate no Gotoku is fine, too, you know. If I had a pile of anime to watch on any given night, this always came first.
7. Kanamemo - I kind of like to think of this show as a low-rent Mahoraba, just with a little less heart-warming and a little more goofiness. And more lesbians. And singing. And hilarious broadcast censorship.
8. Sora no Manimani - I want to join an astronomy club, too.
9. Nyan Koi - A perfect example of how a romantic comedy can still do the romance right even when the comedy borders on the absolutely absurd. I’d like to think the production team had as much fun making this show as I did watching it. Seemed like they did, at least. I anxiously await the promised second season.
10. White Album - I could never really decide if I was laughing with, or at this show. Such was its charm. So utterly fascinating, yet so utterly ridiculous. Touya may have been a gutless douchebag, but he sure did get laid a lot. RESPECT.
11. Fact of the matter is, I watched a lot of anime this year. A LOT OF ANIME. There are plenty of other shows that deserve praise, like Seitokai no Ichizon, Sasameki no Koto and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun. Then, there are the theatrical releases, like Summer Wars and Kara no Kyoukai. Oh, and oddities like the Candy Boy ONA and Hidamari Sketch specials. And the fourth season of Maria-sama ga Miteru, which I haven’t watched yet (waiting on the R1 DVD release) but will no doubt love once I do.
12. No, I didn’t watch Bakemonogatari. Or, to be more precise, I didn’t watch more than three episodes. Didn’t do much for me. Sorry.
13. OMG DON’T GET OFF ON THIS FLOOR.
14. I already did my homework.
15. I already did my homework.
16. I already did my homework.
17. I already did my homework.
18. I already did my homework.
19. I already did my homework.
20. I already did my homework.
21. ASK ME HOW I CAN HELP YOU WITH YOUR HOMEWORK.
22. We’re doing this again next year, right?
23. Just so you know, I flunked Calculus my freshman year in college. Fuck you, 1996.
24. Happy New Year!