No, if you've been watching anime long enough, you know what I'm talking about. There is a lot of mediocre shows in any year, but that ratio is definitely increasing, the chance of finding a good anime in every season now is as slim as none. Not only that, some genres such as Josei are disappearing, as we see fewer mature or creative settings, fewer original or experimental anime, and more generic high school stuff or continuation/remakes of existing ones. The only good year since the start of this decade is 2011 where anime made a comeback with F/Z, S;G, Madoka, Usagi Drop, etc. but other than that year, it's mostly a downhill ride. The anime audience is obviously changing as well, a show like SAO won't nearly have as much weighted popularity if it aired a decade ago, but its hard to blame it on them or the industry in this cycle.
Take the best shows this season, spring last year, and spring 2006.
Spring 2006:
- Aria the Natural (Continuation)
- Black Lagoon
- Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
- Gintama
- Ouran High School Host Club
- Nana
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
- xxxHolic
Spring 2014:
- Mushishi Zoku Shou (Continuation)
- Black Bullet? Mahouka?
Spring 2015:
- Fate Stay Night UBW (Remake)
- Gintama (Continuation)
- Free? Nisekoi? Nagato Yuki?
Deny all you want, but it's a sad truth...