And Then There Were 12. . .

When fansubbers fall behind subbing each new tv episode within the week they aired, it creates a vicious spiral that they ordinarily never recover from.  If, after all, they can't release one episode in a week, why would they be able to release two episodes in the next week before the third episode airs?  Ginga E Kickoff has perpetually suffered from these sorts of delays, and even when the anime itself takes long breaks somehow the fansubbers still don't have time to catch up.  Ginga E Kickoff is again taking many breaks throughout December, but will that be enough?  There are two episodes of Ginga E Kickoff that have remained untranslated, episodes 29 and 30, and episode 31 is coming out in just 8 days.  A group that can't reliably translate an episode a week is being asked to translate two episodes in 8 days, or if you prefer 3 episodes in 14 days.  It doesn't help English speakers much if good anime is being released in Japan.  The only anime we get to watch are the episodes fansubbed into English.  As such, de facto, Ginga E Kickoff doesn't even exist and can't be included in our 'good series to watch this fall.'

The same is true of Bakuman.  We are now two episodes of Bakuman behind with no sign of progress in sight.  The next episode of Bakuman airs in six days, is there ary hope that two episodes of Bakuman can be translated in the next six days, or three episodes in the next 13?  Why would a group that can't translate 1 episode a week suddenly be able to translate two episodes in a week?  So again, Bakuman doesn't really exist, it only airs in Japan and no one else is able to see it, so it too must be dropped from the fall anime watch list.

Lastly, the same unfortunate fate has befallen Seitokai no Ichizon.  As an amateur group, Staircase subs has worked its heart out trying to provide Seitokai no Ichizon to the masses, in English, in a decent resolution.  But the obscure source, niconico streams, and their lack of resources has clearly caught up to them, because they are two-episodes-untranslated behind and the next episode is only six days away.  As much as I love this season of Seitokai no Ichizon, as things stand it doesn't really exist.  This isn't as calamitous as the previous two series because Seitokai is slated to air again, this time in high resolution, on tv, for the winter 2013 anime season.  With these new episodes and the old subs, maybe Staircase will catch up on all their releases in March.

Still, it's worrisome that fansubbers in general seem to be maxed out and incapable of keeping up with Japan's anime releases.  Is Japan simply releasing too much anime per year?  Or is interest in anime waning in America, such that there aren't enough fans who are dedicated to so much hard work involved in bringing Japanese anime to the rest of us?  If it's the first, I wish fansubbers would coordinate with each other and at least deliver the most important anime priorities, like Bakuman, before worrying about stuff like Aikatsu.  If the second, anime fans' only choice is to learn Japanese themselves so that they can watch the anime raw.  This is a rather large barrier to entry just so people can watch good television shows.  If necessary, I can watch anime raw and get most of what is being said, but anime will never become popular if this is required for everyone, children age 5 and up.  And it's important that anime becomes popular because anime is Good.  It's like spreading the gospel.  People need the influence and inspiration of anime in their lives.  Anyone living without it is living a deprived existence, almost a sub-human existence, full of ignorance, darkness, and misery.

There is no reason for fan interest in anime to be waning at this point in time.  Anime is better than ever.  It has been delivering at an unbelievable level for the last four years straight.  Title after title of incredibly good anime is being released every year, from Madoka Magica to Idolm@ster to Little Busters.  If fan interest is fading in the English speaking world, it isn't Japan's fault, but our own.  It's possible for a culture to become so rotten that it can't even recognize the good when they see it.  Perhaps at this point showing anime to Americans is like casting pearls before swine.  But if we've already reached the level of degeneration that we can't even enjoy anime, much less make similarly good stories ourselves, then we've truly entered a new dark age.  I can't believe the situation has gotten that bad that quickly.  For now, I'll just believe in some sort of 'holiday rush blip' where fansubbers are too busy Christmas shopping to help out the general public.  But if this is the case, it's certainly thrown a wrench into the fall anime season.  What began as a 21 series powerhouse is now down to just 12 series we can watch a week.

Smile Precure, Hunter x Hunter, Btooom, Girls und Panzer, Shin Sekai Yori, To Love ru Darkness, Chuunibyou, Robotics;Notes, Fairy Tail, Hayate no Gotoku, Little Busters and Sword Art Online.

Of these, Shin Sekai Yori, Fairy Tail and Hunter x Hunter are exceptionally outstanding right now.  Robotics;Notes and Chuunibyou are exceptionally weak, while the rest are holding their own.  It's been a very strange season where some series were late bloomers, while others started well and then tanked in quality, where some series lost their fansubbers and others wandered off into filler.  What looked to be the best anime season of all time sort of fell apart into a morass of broken expectations.  But that's okay -- there's always next year!

On other fronts, the rest of Saki Achiga-hen is now available in blu-ray subbed thanks to 'anonymous.'  This was a high priority on my collector's wishlist.  The only other outlier is Fate/Zero season 2 in blu-ray.  Since Saki Achiga included all four semifinalists in the Saimoe contest, it would be foolish to view this series with anything except the top quality medium.  Every last pixel of these girls' beauty must be preserved in a museum, just like Botticelli's Venus.

Also, a whole range of original animation videos has been released or will soon be released for many good series, that fansubbers will hopefully handle in the coming month -- there's new Fairy Tail, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, The World God Only Knows, Idolm@ster Shiny Festa, Saki Achiga-hen, Tales of Symphonia and To Love ru Darkness.  So on top of our currently airing fall season of good anime, a sprinkling of other good series, one episode at a time, is also being showered down upon us.  Be sure to keep track of all these bonus episodes too.