2012 in anime

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Events in 2012 in anime.

Year in review

In Japanese polling, Newtype's best releases of Autumn 2011 to Summer 2012 announced the best anime series as Fate/Zero, The Idolmaster, Nisemonogatari, Tari Tari and Hyouka. For movies, the poll named only three awards for the K-On! Movie, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie and Wolf Children. Another series debut was Sword Art Online. Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis praised Sword Art Online, even before the series conclusion, for its complex and genre-crossing storyline and intelligent portrayal of sociological and psychological issues. Eisenbeis would also pick five different movies for top film of 2012, including The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki, Evangelion 3.0, Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker, One Piece Film: Z and Doraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles as his top five movies.

Anime News Network's, Theron Martin and Carl Kimlinger listed the best anime in America of 2012 summarized the popular works that were widely released to American audiences. The two reviewers picked Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Anohana as series of the year with runners-up Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions and Kimi ni Todoke. The staff's picks for best movies of the year, were The Secret World of Arrietty and Redline.

In March 2013, the Tokyo Anime Awards recognized Wolf Children for animation of the year, Sword Art Online and Kuroko's Basketball for television series of the year.

At the Mainichi Film Awards, the Animation Film Award was won by Wolf Children and the Ōfuji Noburō Award was won by Combustible. Wolf Children also won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. Internationally, A Letter to Momo won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film, with three of the other four nominees being also from Japan: From Up on Poppy Hill, Niji-Iro Hotaru: Eien no Natsu Yasumi and Wolf Children.

Deaths

March 20 - Noboru Ishiguro

Releases

Films

A list of anime that debuted in theaters between January 1 and December 31, 2012.

Release date	Title	Studio	Director	Running time (minutes)	Notes	Ref
March 17	Strike Witches: The Movie	AIC	Kazuhiro Takamura	97
June 16	Library War: The Wings of Revolution	Production I.G	Takayuki Hamana	105
July 21	Wolf Children	Studio Chizu Madhouse	Mamoru Hosoda	117
October 27	009 Re:Cyborg	Production I.G Sanzigen	Kenji Kamiyama	105
November 17	Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo	Studio Khara	Hideaki Anno Mahiro Maeda Kazuya Tsurumaki	96

Television series

A list of anime television series that debuted between January 1 and December 31, 2012.

First run start and end dates	Title	Episodes	Studio	Director	Alternate title	Ref
January 2 – March 26	Natsume Yūjin-chō Shi	13	Brain's Base	Takahiro Omori
January 5 – March 29	Amagami SS+ plus	13	AIC	Tomoki Kobayashi
January 4 – March 28	The New Prince of Tennis	13	M.S.C Production I.G	Hideyo Yamamoto
January 5 – March 29	Kill Me Baby	13	J.C.Staff	Yoshiki Yamakawa
January 5 – March 28	Recorder to Randoseru Do	13	Seven	Hiroshi Kimura
January 5 – March 22	Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: Act 2	12	J.C.Staff Artland	Makoto Moriwaki
January 6 – March 21	High School DxD	12	TNK	Tetsuya Yanagisawa
January 6 – March 30	Senki Zesshō Symphogear	13	Satelight Encourage Films	Tatsufumi Itō
January 7 – March 17	Nisemonogatari	11	Shaft	Akiyuki Shinbo Tatsuya Oishi
January 7 – March 24	The Familiar of Zero: F	12	J.C.Staff	Yoshiaki Iwasaki	Zero no Tsukaima F
January 7 – September 28	The Knight in the Area	37	Shin-Ei Animation	Hirofumi Ogura
January 8 – June 24	Aquarion Evol	26	Satelight 8-Bit	Shōji Kawamori Yusuke Yamamoto
January 8 – June 30	Bodacious Space Pirates	26	Satelight	Tatsuo Satō
January 8 – March 27	Brave 10	12	Studio Sakimakura TMS Entertainment	Kiyoko Sayama
January 8 – March 24	Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne	12	Xebec Production I.G	Tatsuo Satō Toshimasa Suzuki	Rinne no Lagrange
January 8 – December 30	Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki	52	Studio Deen	Akitaro Daichi
January 9 – March 26	Daily Lives of High School Boys	12	Sunrise	Shinji Takamatsu	Danshi Kōkōsei no Nichijō
January 10 – March 27	Another	12	P.A.Works	Tsutomu Mizushima
January 10 – March 27	Waiting in the Summer	12	J.C.Staff	Tatsuyuki Nagai	Ano Natsu de Matteru
January 11 – March 27	Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!	13	Feel	Itsuro Kawasaki	Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai!
January 12 – March 29	Inu x Boku SS	12	David Production	Naokatsu Tsuda
January 12 – January 26	Thermae Romae	6	DLE	Azuma Tani
January 23 – March 28	Gokujyo	12	LMD	Futoshi Higashide
February 2 – March 22	Black Rock Shooter	8	Ordet Sanzigen	Shinobu Yoshioka Hiroyuki Imaishi
February 5 – January 27, 2013	Smile PreCure!	48	Toei Animation	Takashi Otsuka
March 16 – April 21	Ozuma	6	LandQ Studios Gonzo	Takahiro Ikezoe Ryōsuke Takahashi
April 1 – December 23	Hiiro no Kakera	13	Studio Deen	Bob Shirohata
April 1 – March 30, 2014	Saint Seiya Omega	97	Toei Animation	Morio Hatano (1-51) Tatsuya Nagamine (52-77) Kohei Kureta (78-97)
April 1 – March 22, 2014	Space Brothers	99	A-1 Pictures	Ayumu Watanabe	Uchū Kyōdai
April 2 – June 25	Zetman	13	TMS Entertainment	Osamu Nabeshima
April 3 – February 26, 2013	Ginga e Kickoff!!	39	TYO Animations	Kōnosuke Uda
April 3 – June 26	Kimi to Boku (season 2)	13	J.C.Staff	Mamoru Kanbe
April 3 – June 19	Queen's Blade Rebellion	12	Arms	Yōsei Morino
April 4 – September 26	Arashi no Yoru ni	26	Sparky Animation	Tetsuro Amino
April 4 – February 19, 2014	Kuromajo-san ga Toru!!	60	Shin-Ei Animation	Tetsuo Yasumi
April 4 – June 27	Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine	13	TMS Entertainment	Sayo Yamamoto
April 4 – June 27	Recorder to Randoseru Re	13	Seven	Hiroshi Kimura
April 5 – June 7	Is This a Zombie? of the Dead	10	Studio Deen	Takaomi Kanasaki	Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead
April 5 – June 21	Medaka Box	12	Gainax	Shouji Saeki
April 5 – June 28	Place to Place	12	AIC	Fumitoshi Oizaki	Acchi Kocchi
April 5 – June 28	Sankarea: Undying Love	12	Studio Deen	Mamoru Hatakeyama
April 5 – September 27	Sengoku Collection	26	Brain's Base	Keiji Gotoh
April 5 – March 28, 2013	Shirokuma Cafe	50	Pierrot	Mitsuyuki Masuhara
April 6 – June 29	Natsuiro Kiseki	12	Sunrise	Seiji Mizushima
April 7 – September 22	Accel World	24	Sunrise	Masakazu Obara
April 7 – March 30, 2013	Baku Tech! Bakugan	51	Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment	Takao Kato
April 7 – June 23	Fate/Zero (season 2)	12	Ufotable	Ei Aoki
April 7 – March 30, 2013	Jewelpet Kira Deco!	52	Studio Comet	Makoto Moriwaki
April 7 – September 22	Kuroko's Basketball	25	Production I.G	Shunsuke Tada
April 7}} – June 30	Mysterious Girlfriend X	12	Hoods Entertainment	Ayumu Watanabe	Nazo no Kanojo X
April 7 – March 30, 2013	Pretty Rhythm: Dear My Future	51	Tatsunoko Production	Masakazu Hishida
April 8 – December 23, 2013	Beyblade: Shogun Steel	45	SynergySP Nelvana Animation	Kunihisa Sugishima
April 8 – January 2, 2013	Cardfight!! Vanguard: Asia Circuit	39	TMS Entertainment Sotsu Dentsu	Hatsuki Tsuji
April 8 – June 24	Dusk Maiden of Amnesia	13	Silver Link	Shin Ōnuma	Tasogare Otome × Amnesia
April 8 – September 23	Phi Brain: Puzzle of God (season 2)	25	Sunrise	Junichi Sato
April 8 – June 9	Upotte!!	10	Xebec	Takao Kato
April 9 – May 25	Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A	16	Studio Gokumi	Manabu Ono
April 10 – June 26	Jormungand	12	White Fox	Keitaro Motonaga
April 10 – June 26	Nyaruko: Crawling with Love	12	Xebec	Tsuyoshi Nagasawa	Haiyore! Nyaruko-san
April 12 – June 28	Kids on the Slope	12	MAPPA Tezuka Productions	Shinichirō Watanabe	Sakamichi no Apollon
April 13 – November 20	Eureka Seven: AO	24	Bones	Tomoki Kyoda
April 13 – June 28	Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan	12	Production I.G	Itsuro Kawasaki
April 13 – June 28	Tsuritama	12	A-1 Pictures	Kenji Nakamura
April 22 – September 16	Hyōka	22	Kyoto Animation	Yasuhiro Takemoto
April 29 – July 22	AKB0048	13	Satelight	Shōji Kawamori Yoshimasa Hiraike
June 4 – February 25, 2013	Kingdom	38	Pierrot	Jun Kamiya
July 1 – December 24	Chitose Get You!!	26	Silver Link	Takao Sano
July 1 – September 23	Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne (season 2)	12	Xebec Production I.G	Tatsuo Satō Toshimasa Suzuki	Rinne no Lagrange
July 1 – September 16	La storia della Arcana Famiglia	12	J.C.Staff	Chiaki Kon
July 1 – September 23	Tari Tari	13	P.A.Works	Masakazu Hashimoto
July 2 – September 17	Humanity Has Declined	12	AIC A.S.T.A.	Seiji Kishi	Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
July 2 – December 23	Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse	24	Ixtl Satelight	Masaomi Ando
July 2 – September 17	YuruYuri♪♪	12	Doga Kobo	Masahiko Ohta
July 3 – September 25	Chōyaku Hyakunin isshu: Uta Koi	13	TYO Animations	Ken'ichi Kasai
July 4 – September 26	Good Luck Girl!	13	Sunrise	Yōichi Fujita	Binbō-gami ga!
July 5 – September 28	Joshiraku	13	J.C.Staff	Tsutomu Mizushima
July 5 – September 13	Moyasimon Returns	11	Shirogumi Telecom Animation Film	Yūichirō Yano
July 5 – September 13	Natsuyuki Rendezvous	11	Doga Kobo	Kō Matsuo
July 6 – September 21	Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero	12	Arms	Rion Kujō	Hagure Yūsha no Estetica
July 6 – September 28	Campione!	13	Diomedéa	Keizō Kusakawa
July 6 – September 28	Love, Election and Chocolate	12	AIC Build	Tōru Kitahata	Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate
July 6 – September 28	Nakaimo - My Sister Is Among Them!	12	Studio Gokumi	Munenori Nawa	Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!
July 6 – September 25	So, I Can't Play H!	12	Feel	Takeo Takahashi	Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai.
July 7 – September 29	Dog Days'	13	Seven Arcs	Junji Nishimura
July 7 – September 29	Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere (season 2)	13	Sunrise	Manabu Ono	Kyōkaisen-jō no Horizon
July 7 – December 22	Sword Art Online	25	A-1 Pictures	Tomohiko Itō
July 7 – March 30, 2013	Tanken Driland	37	Toei Animation	Toshinori Fukuzawa
July 8 – September 30	Kokoro Connect	13	Silver Link	Shin Ōnuma Shin'ya Kawatsura
July 9 – September 24	The Ambition of Oda Nobuna	12	Studio Gokumi Madhouse	Yūji Kumazawa	Oda Nobuna no Yabō
July 9 – September 24	Hakuōki Reimeiroku	12	Studio Deen	Osamu Yamasaki
August 11 – October 6	BeyWheelz	13	SynergySP Nelvana Animation	Naoki Hishikawa
September 9 – September 8, 2013	Battle Spirits: Sword Eyes	50	Sunrise	Masaki Watanabe
October 1 – December 24	Kamisama Kiss	13	TMS Entertainment	Akitaro Daichi	Kamisama Hajimemashita
October 1 – December 24	My Little Monster	13	Brain's Base	Hiro Kaburaki	Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
October 2 – September 24, 2013	Chōsoku Henkei Gyrozetter	51	A-1 Pictures	Shinji Takamatsu Kunihiro Mori
October 2 – November 20	Litchi DE Hikari Club	8	Kachidoki Studio	Masahiro Takata
October 3 – March 27, 2013	From the New World	25	A-1 Pictures	Masashi Ishihama	Shin Sekai Yori
October 3 – December 19	Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life	12	Sanzigen	Toyonori Yamada	Ūsā no Sono-hi-gurashi
October 4 – December 20	Busou Shinki	12	8-Bit	Yasuhito Kikuchi
October 4 – December 20	Btooom!	12	Madhouse	Kotono Watanabe
October 4 – December 20	Hayate the Combat Butler: Can't Take My Eyes Off You	12	Manglobe	Masashi Kudo
October 4 – December 19	Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions	12	Kyoto Animation	Tatsuya Ishihara	Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai!
October 5 – March 29, 2013	Blast of Tempest	24	Bones	Masahiro Ando	Zetsuen no Tempest
October 5 – December 21	Hidamari Sketch × Honeycomb	12	Shaft	Akiyuki Shinbo
October 5 – April 5, 2013	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure	26	David Production	Naokatsu Tsuda Ken'ichi Suzuki
October 5 – December 28	K	13	GoHands	Shingo Suzuki
October 5 – December 21	OniAi	12	Silver Link	Keiichiro Kawaguchi	Onii-chan dakedo Ai sae Areba Kankei Nai yo ne!
October 6 – March 30, 2013	Bakuman. 3	25	J.C.Staff	Ken'ichi Kasai Noriaki Akitaya
October 6 – December 29	Haitai Nanafa	13	Passione	Hiroshi Kimura
October 6 – March 30, 2013	Ixion Saga DT	25	Brain's Base	Shinji Takamatsu
October 6 – April 6, 2013	Little Busters!	26	J.C.Staff	Yoshinobu Yamakawa
October 6 – December 30	Say "I love you"	13	Zexcs	Takuya Satō	Suki-tte Ii na yo.
October 6 – December 29	To Love-Ru Darkness	12	Xebec	Atsushi Ootsuki
October 7 – September 29, 2013	B-Daman Fireblast	52	SynergySP	Yoshinori Odaka
October 7 – December 30	Code:Breaker	13	Kinema Citrus	Yasuhiro Irie
October 7 – March 23, 2014	Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal II	73	Gallop	Satoshi Kuwahara
October 8 – March 31, 2016	Aikatsu!	178	Sunrise BN Pictures	Ryuichi Kimura
October 8 – March 15, 2013	Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic	25	A-1 Pictures	Koji Masunari
October 9 – March 25, 2016	Girls und Panzer	12	Actas	Tsutomu Mizushima
October 9 – March 26, 2016	The Pet Girl of Sakurasou	24	J.C.Staff	Atsuko Ishizuka	Sakura-sō no Pet na Kanojo
October 10 – December 26	Jormungand: Perfect Order	12	White Fox	Keitaro Motonaga
October 11 – December 27	Medaka Box Abnormal	12	Gainax	Shouji Saeki
October 12 – March 22, 2013	Psycho-Pass	22	Production I.G	Naoyoshi Shiotani Katsuyuki Motohiro
October 12 – March 22, 2013	Robotics;Notes	22	Production I.G	Kazuya Nomura
October 20 – April 4, 2013	World War Blue	3	5th Avenue	Tetsuya Yanagisawa	Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de
November 9 – May 10, 2013	Initial D Fifth Stage	14	SynergySP	Mitsuo Hashimoto
December 21 – March 15, 2013	Boku no Imōto wa "Ōsaka Okan"	12	Charaction	Kōtarō Ishidate

Original video animations

A list of original video animations that debuted between January 1 and December 31, 2012.

First run start and end dates	Title	Episodes	Studio	Director	Alternate title	Ref
January 18 – April 18	Ai no Kusabi	4	AIC	Katsuhito Akiyama
February 15	Yuri Seijin Naoko-san	1	Ufotable	Tetsuya Takeuchi
March 21 – September 27, 2017	A Channel + smile	3	Studio Gokumi	Manabu Ono
October 20	Arata-naru Sekai	1	Madhouse	Yuzuru Tachikawa

See also

• 2012 in animation