Top 120 Anime 3.0:

Here are the newly revised top 120 anime franchises of all time:

1. Clannad (2007-2009) 
2. Pretty Cure (2004-2012+)
3. One Piece (1999-2012+)
4. Code Geass (2006-20012+)
5. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha/Triangle Hearts (2000-2012)
6. Seikai no Monshou/Senki/Danshou (1999-2005)
7. Naruto (2002-2012+)
8. Dragonball (1986-2011+)
9. K-On! (2009-2011)
10. Higurashi/Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (2006-2012)
11. Fairy Tail (2009-2012+)
12. Kanon (2002-2007)
13. Haruhi Suzumiya (2006-2010)
14. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007-2009)
15. To Aru Majutsu no Index/Kagaku no Railgun (2008-2011+)
16. Angel Beats (2010)
17. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011+)
18. Da Capo (2003-2011+)
19. Katanagatari (2010)
20. The Idolm@ster (2011-2012+)
21. Full Metal Panic! (2002-2006)
22. Bakuman (2010-2012+)
23. Kobato (2009-2012)
24. Working! (2010-2012)
25. Record of Lodoss War (1990-1998)
26. The World God Only Knows (2010-2011+)
27. Hayate no Gotoku (2007-2012+)
28. Sora no Woto (2010)
29. Toradora! (2008-2011)
30. Basilisk (2005)
31. Galaxy Angel (2001-2006)
32. Saki (2009-2012+)
33. Major (2004-2012)
34. Vandread (2000-2001)
35. Inuyasha (2000-2010)
36. Ranma 1/2 (1989-2008)
37. Sailor Moon (1992-1997+)
38. Air (2005)
39. Evangelion (1995-2009+)

40. Prince of Tennis (2001-2012)

41. Hanasaku Iroha (2011+)
42. Usagi Drop (2011-2012)
43. Angelic Layer (2001)
44. Rurouni Kenshin (1996-2012+)
45. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
46. Ef (2007-2008)
47. Ore no Immouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai (2010-2011+)
48. Uuchuu no Stellvia (2003)
49. Utawarerumono (2006-2010)
50. Summer Wars (2009)
51. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu (2010-2012)
52. Cowboy Bebop (1998-2001)
53. Battle Athletes (1997-1998)
54. Bleach (2004-2012)
55. Bake-(etc)-monogatari (2009-2012+)
56. Macross (1982-2011+)
57. 12 Kingdoms (2002-2003)
58. Strike Witches (2007-2012)
59. Nichijou (2011-2012)
60. Hunter x Hunter (1999-2012+)
61. Fate/Stay/Etc (2006-2012+)

62. Claymore (2007)

63. Amagami SS (2010-2012+)

64. Sora no Otoshimono (2009-2012+)
65. Card Captor Sakura/Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (1998-2009)

66. Shakugan no Shana (2005-2012)

67. Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai (2011+)

68. Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai (2012)
69. Mononoke Hime (1997)
70. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (2011+)

71. Berserk (1997-2012+)
72. Valkyria Chronicles (2009-2011)
73. Negima! Magister Magi Negi (2004-2012)

74. Samurai Champloo (2004-2005)

75. Gundam (1979-2012+)
76. Martian Successor Nadesico (1996-1998)
77. AKB0048 (2012+)

78. Read or Die (2001-2004)
79. Break Blade (2010-2011)
80. Kimi ni Todoke (2009-2011)
81. Spice and Wolf (2008-2009)
82. To Heart (1999-2012)

83. Bastard! (1992)

84. Mahoromatic (2001-2009)
85. Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka (2008-2009)
86. Fatal Fury (1992-1994)
87. Azumanga Daioh (2002)
88. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
89. Scrapped Princess (2003)
90. Steins;Gate (2011-2012+)
91. Ghost in the Shell (1995-2011)

92. Flame of Recca (1997-1998)
93. Shinryaku! Ika Musume (2010-2012)

94. Zero no Tsukaima (2006-2012)
95. Tamayura (2010-2012+)
96. Natsuiro Kiseki (2012)

97. Hyouka (2012+)

98. Lucky Star (2007-2008)
99. High School of the Dead (2010-2011)
100. Hikaru no Go (2001-2004)
101. Gunbuster (1988-2012)
102. Shamanic Princess (1996-1998)

103. Soul Eater (2008-2009)
104. Moshidora (2011)

105. Gosick (2011)

106. Baccano/Durara (2007-2011)
107. Akira (1988)

108. Guyver (1986-2006)
109. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

110. Spirited Away (2001)

111. Iria: Zeiram the Animation (1994)

112. Alien Nine (2001-2002)

113. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)

114. Death Note (2006-2008)

115. Tari Tari (2012+)

116. Sora no Manimani (2009)

117. Ninja Scroll (1993-2003+)

118. Yuru Yuri (2011-2012+)

119. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

120. RG Veda (1991-1992)

Just a little update to my top anime rankings, based on some changes on the ground.  Yuru Yuri had a solid first season, but this second season has been even better, and really put the series over the top.  I now find myself looking forward to it more than Naruto or the like.  The comedy aspects are amazing, especially everything based around Akarin, who is one of the most lovable anime girls ever.  The friendships beneath the comedy are genuinely moving.  And the art style is gorgeously unique.  Yuru Yuri is taking the place of X, which has too many plot holes to offset its virtues elsewhere.  X simply doesn't make sense, and as such, hardly deserves a title like 'must see.'  When Little Busters arrives in October, I can replace RG Veda, which at two episodes hardly deserves an entire ranking slot to itself, and thus purge the other dubious Clamp work from the rankings.

Tari Tari has slowly moved up the rankings with the release of each new episode, but it has failed to really wow me.  AKB0048, however, has shot up the rankings to #77, mainly due to the magnificence of the final arc where they returned to their home planet to host their first concert, and the promise that a new season will be forthcoming in 2013 to tie up the loose ends.  Hyouka has also improved dramatically, up to #97, mainly because the story branched out to cover the other girl in the Kotenbu, Mayaka.  Suddenly I found myself liking her as much as I did Chitanda, which is a real feat considering I thought nothing of her previous to the latest few eps.  Also, I feel like the club's espirit de corp finally shone through with their new mission of selling 200 booklets, attending a cooking contest together, and so on.  The school festival has really turned these scattered individuals into a united group of, dare I say it? -- friends.  Thank you Hyouka. It only took until nearly the end of the series, but you finally got it right.

Fairy Tail is going down in the rankings because of its drought of filler.  I'm beginning to doubt whether this series will ever be finished as an anime, or whether it will simply drown in filler and then be cancelled due to low popularity like Bleach was.  Meanwhile Naruto is in the middle of canon material and it looks like the series will be drawn all the way to its proper conclusion.  Any story with an ending is better than a story without an ending, so this puts Naruto and Dragonball ahead of Fairy Tail yet again.  Not to mention K-On and Higurashi, which also have endings, unlike Fairy Tail which may never reach one.  Even if Fairy Tail did leave filler hell, the next arc in the manga isn't very good either.  Maybe this series has just lost its touch.

Meanwhile, K-On's ranking jumped back up again because the K-On movie was unbelievably good.  The battle for the top ten is extremely fierce, and most of the time K-On has been in it.  It's nice to see them back up there again, even if it did mean knocking Fairy Tail out.

As I noted last post, for some reason, this summer season just didn't really exist.  For instance, Hyouka's ending in just four more weeks, even though the fall season doesn't start until October.  Kono Naka ni Hitori, Immouto ga Iru doesn't restart until next week.  Ginga E Kickoff doesn't restart for weeks more.  The series that looked like they would be really good were instead disappointments.  Tari Tari and Yuru Yuri are worthy champions of the summer season (maybe any series with a repetitive name will be good?), but Sword Art Online and Kokoro Connect are train wrecks.  They aren't bad, but they are worse than what they could have potentially been, which is sometimes worse than bad, because then you're stuck watching them the whole way through.  Dog Days is just utterly vapid.  The second season is way worse than the first, something I didn't think possible, considering what a great lineup of characters they had assembled.  But what's the use of making so many characters if you don't use them for anything, like, say, a plot?  What had been a fun series isn't even worth watching anymore.  There just isn't much left to celebrate.  If I wanted to rank the currently airing series in terms of what I'm most looking forward to next, it would look like this:

1.  Smile Precure

2.  Hunter x Hunter

3.  Hyouka  (before it randomly ends just like AKB0048 did, way too soon)

4.  One Piece

5.  Tari Tari

6.  Yuru Yuri

7.  Naruto

8.  Space Brothers

9.  Kokoro Connect

10. Sword Art Online

11. Kono Naka ni Hitori, Immouto ga Iru  (when it finally comes back)

12.  Ginga E Kickoff (when it finally comes back)

Only ten shows!  What a terrible season it's been.  It's time to give up on this summer season and start looking forwards to the fall season instead.  Everything will be better in the fall.  We'll keep Precure, Hunter x Hunter, One Piece and Naruto for sure.  We're likely to keep Ginga E Kickoff and Space Brothers as well.  So there's six already.  Then if we check out the fall preview at places like:

http://countdown.mandragon.info/upcoming.html

or this:

 http://thecartdriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/i9VnqrnACrdCE.jpg

We find a huge list of sure to be hits, like To Love Ru, Seitokai no Ichizon, Hayate no Gotoku, Robotics;Notes, Bakuman, and Little Busters.  That gets us up to 12 series.  Then there's bound to be some good new series to add to the list as well, like Magi or Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.  Then we'd be looking at something like 16 watchable series.  But really, even if no other series appeared this fall and Little Busters came out on its own, it would be better than this entire summer season.  I could look forward to this fall on the basis of Little Busters alone.  Little Busters plus 50% more good series to watch?  Now that's a fall worth waiting for.