Fall 2011 Anime Worth Watching:

After watching a few more episodes of various series, I feel I can put a more decisive stamp on the fall season.

I watched the first episode of Last Exile, and it was terrible. Aside from cute throwback references, musically and artistically, to the original series, it was completely worthless. All the characters were annoying. The CG effects weren't realistic at all, they were just jarring and ugly. And all of the soft porn seems to have been thrown it at random on the premise that 'sex sells so may as well.' Sex may sell, but if it doesn't have any purpose in the story, it ruins any piece of art it touches.

I have the same objection to Ben-to, C3, and Maji de Watashi. Too many corporate bureaucrats thinking to themselves, "sex sells, so may as well." No integration of said sex into the plot whatsoever. Therefore, all three series are total failures.

Meanwhile, Boku wa Tomodachi has improved yet again. Surprisingly, it's one of the best series this fall. The episode about them playing first Monster Hunter, then a visual novel, was not only hilarious but so, so true, in every way. It caught the spirit of both games perfectly.

Mirai Nikki, meanwhile, was much worse in its second episode, as a series of unrealistic events happened in a row -- where did all 9's bombs come from? Look how much work it took for Breivik to make one single bomb, which ended up being almost entirely ineffectual. How did 9 wire the whole school and lay a minefield at that???? Where did her motorcycle come from? She was standing in an empty field all alone, and then suddenly she was on a motorcycle. I assume her magical motorcycle came from the same source as her magical bombs? But how does the ability to foretell the future grant you the right to conjure magic items out of thin air? The whole thing smacked of bullshit.

Nurarihyon just gets worse every episode. There's no reason to watch this show anymore either.

So how does the new fall season outlook look like? Maybe if I divided it into tiers:

Must See:

Suite Precure.
One Piece.
Idolm@ster.
Fairy Tail.
Bakuman.
Working!.
Hunter x Hunter.
Fate/Zero.

Should See:

Tamayura.
Bleach.
(non-filler) Naruto.
Shakugan no Shana.
Boku wa Tomodachi.
Guilty Crown.
Shinryaku.

No harm in seeing:

Gundam Age.
Kimi to Boku.
Mashiro-iro.
Morita-san.
Chihayafuru.

If you're about to die of boredom:

Nurarihyon.
Mirai Nikki.
Ben-to.
Maji de Watashi.
C3.
Last Exile: Fam.

Not even under torture:

Everything else.