[Haak]

I'd just like to ask a favour: If you're not going to use the feedback system and want to discuss the rules then please wait until after the Nomination Phase or Voting Phase. For all immediate questions about a series eligibility that you're unsure about then please PM me or felix.

We wanted to avoid discussing rules for the moment in order to avoid people getting dragged up into a discussion about rules and then not having enough time to consider their votes. For the time being let me clear up questions about the rules and why we have them.

Originally Posted by NK_500

EDIT: Girls und Panzer is not qualified and so is Medaka Box Abnormal. So I vote for its first season instead.

Medaka Box Abormal is not ineligible. Since both seasons ended airing in 2012, they have been combined.

Originally Posted by hyl

If we take that rule into account starting this year, then how eligble are series that have a sequel instantly greenlit after the last episode, without actually knowing if that sequel will start airing within 1 cour.
An example would be K or Hayate no Gotoku! Can't Take My Eyes Off You

We are very unlikely to see an anime airing within one cour after a greenlit announcement so we can assume they count as separate seasons.

later edit: or series that have their 2nd season announced, but it takes more than 3 months after the last episode of the first season to air? Like Haiyore! Nyaruko-san or chihayafuru (mentioned in Qilin's reply below)

Those are considered separate second seasons and do not affect the eligibility of the first season that ended airing this year.

In the case of Haiyore! Nyaruko-san and Chihayafuru the next season will air a whole half a year or more after their first seasons aired.

This is different to those that have a second season airing with only one cour because in those cases it is easy to see what has happened production-wise: They were originally meant to be a whole season and were just split up, and not simply due to seeing how sales of the first season would go before green-lighting a second season.

Felix has already covered why ongoing series are ineligible but just to reiterate, if we were to allow ongoing series' then that would mean letting shows that have finished compete with shows that haven't which could constitute as an unfair competition since we clearly judge unfinished anime by different criteria to finished shows so some might gain an unfair advantage over others. This might not be the case in a clearly impressionable series such as Psycho-Pass but there are plenty of of other lesser ongoing series that are actually quite good but have been held down due to not finishing, for example.

Originally Posted by hyl

So how is that fair , if series that have their 1st half or even their 1st cour (incase of an announced split cour) aired 2011 like Guilty Crown, Fate/Zero etc. are allowed for 2012's nomination?

Because then it means all anime that are eligible have finished airing in that year: They all begin at the same starting line. There might be an issue with people remembering anime which have aired over the year and finished in March but this issue already exists with one cour anime that started within the year and finished in March and as totoum pointed it out, there's not a lot of evidence to suggest this is a significant factor anyway.

Originally Posted by totoum

Just wanting to make sure, the reason Mardock Scramble isn't eligible is because the 3rd movie isn't out on DVD yet?

This is true.

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

It does seem logical to exempt OP end ED songs from the restriction, though. If, for example, you wanted to vote for Hunter X Hunter's first ED - which aired in 2011 - the earliest you could vote for it would be 2013? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Perhaps we could make a single-category exception.

It's certainly worth considering, but this could end up running into issues with the automated counting system, so we'd have to check to make sure.