Fall 2016 Anime Preview:

With summer more or less sussed out, it's time to look forward to next season's anime, fall 2016, which will be wrapping up this magnificent year in anime.

There's already been 35 great anime franchises that either started or added to their total this year, and fall is slated to add a lot more.

Brave Witches, Hibike Euphonium 2, and Vivid Strike will definitely get us to 38.  Add in the Kiniro Mosaic ova that's supposed to come out this fall and that gets us to 39.  The Akatsuki no Yona ovas will bring us to 40.  The Non Non Biyori oad will get us to 41.  Then we just need one dark horse to succeed in the Fall to match the 42 great shows that aired in 2015.

Likely prospects are 3 Gatsu no Lion, Girlish Number, Idol Memories, and Shuumetsu no Izetta.

Because 2016 had more new great anime franchises it's an even healthier year than 2015, despite the upcoming tie record.

Vivid Strike does not seem to be a sequel to Vivid like we were led to believe would happen.  This seems to be tied up with Yukari Tamura refusing to play Nanoha anymore, which seems to also be somehow tied up with the fact that Vivid never received a blu-ray release, and the fact that the announced Nanoha Reflection movie never actually happened.  I have no clue what happens in the back rooms of these studios, but it's a crying shame that Nanoha will no longer be adapted properly and we must instead jump ahead to this random new point in time without ever resolving the storylines in Vivid or Force.  I assume the writers behind Vivid Strike are the same as behind the previous entries so this isn't filler, it's just an unsatisfying sequel with too many holes to be accepted wholeheartedly.

As fall 2016 looks like now, it will have continuing series:

Berserk (2016)
One Piece
Naruto
Mahoutskai Precure
Dragon Ball Super
Jojo's Bizarre Aventure:  Diamond is Unbreakable

Returning Series:

12 Sai
Vivid Strike
Brave Witches
Hibike Euphonium 2

Promising Series:

3 Gatsu no Lion
Girlish Number
Idol Memories
Shuumetsu no Izetta

Series worth checking out at least 1 ep:

Touken Ranbu Hanamaru
Stella no Mahou
Trickster:  Edogawa Rampo Shounen Tantei-dan yori
Soushin Shoujo Matoi
Soul Buster
Luger Code 1951
Long Riders
Flip Flappers
Drifters
All Out

For a total of 24 opportunities.  Humorously, my compiled anime list, which enumerates all the separate franchises I've watched either in full or at least three episodes of (so a compilation of all the shows I've deemed great, good or mediocre), is stuck at 599 thanks to the summer season not being quite good enough.  I'll have to wait until fall to celebrate the landmark 600th show, which should mean my top anime rankings, which traditionally has been the top 1/3 of said list, will have 200 shows, but that's stuck at 184 currently for a lack of worthy entries.  Perhaps it would be neat to give a sort of provisional top 200 with the runners up who would be ranked if I had to rank someone, even though they don't deserve full ranked status.  Well, that's academic until I actually reach 600, so my top anime rankings can remain undisturbed for now.

Bleach is said to have 'less than 10 chapters' remaining.  That's a bit more encouraging than the previous estimate of 'less than 4' chapters remaining.  Even so, there's no way all of the loose plot threads will be addressed like this.  Once Bleach ends, instead of my bleach situational report permapost, I'll have to make a post detailing all the missing pieces the ending failed to address.  It's very disappointing.  Depending on how much is left out, I'll have to lower Bleach's manga ranking accordingly.  The fact that still there's been no announcement of an anime sequel is also very disappointing.  At this point there doesn't look to be much hope to any of it.  Ruination on all fronts.