The fall anime season included a lot of series that came out over many weeks. Finally we have a full picture of this new anime lineup, so let's see what the situation now looks like:
Monday's Shows:
Bakugan, Gintama, Chibi Devil, Tamogotchi, Yu-gi-oh: beneath my notice.
Tamayura: Excellent. In the top 100 anime ever.
Tuesday's Shows:
Sengoku Paradise: beneath my notice.
Bleach: A very good start to the next non-filler arc. In the top 70 anime ever.
Shinryaku: A fun start to another lighthearted squid girl season.
Kimi to Boku: A novel story about a group of boys instead of girls, worth watching for that alone.
Wednesday's Shows:
Happy Kappy, Inazuma Go and Danball Senki: beneath my notice.
Maken-ki: worst anime ever?
Morita-san: Cute, but too short.
Mashiro-iro: Cliched, but fluffy.
Chihayafuru: I like how the characters have forgivable character flaws, they're just the right balance and it really brings out their personalities. I'm not sure if the plot itself is any good though.
Thursday's Shows:
GDGD Fairies, Hyouge Mono, Pokemon Black/White: Beneath my notice.
Sket Dance: Saw the first episode ages ago and hated it. Maybe it got better later? I wouldn't know.
Naruto: Still in filler. The next non-filler arc sucks anyway. How the mighty have fallen. Even so, a top 10 anime ever.
Friday's Shows:
Copihan: I should try this show sometime.
Busou Shinki: Bad premise, bad execution.
Un-go: Terrible series. It acts like a detective story, but it's not, because you can magically retrieve any information you need to solve the case. The art is awful, the characters are annoying. Rarely do you see such a mangled idea.
Guilty Crown: An exciting first episode. The art is exquisite. The question is can it transition from flashy visuals to a moving story with characters we genuinely care about? It won't be a great series if it stays like this.
The Idolm@ster: The 2nd half of this already perfect series is equally perfect. Creative episodes that continue to perfectly express their unique idea of a bunch of idols performing for a crowd in all sorts of various venues in various ways is simply fantastic. Whoever wrote up the concepts for these individuals episodes is a creative genius. Whoever draws these characters is an artistic genius. The voice actors are all geniuses. By God how do series get this good?
The only flaw to this series is that it's non-serious, which limits its potential. The happy-go-lucky atmosphere is perfect for the show, but limits itself versus tearful tales like Kanon.
Persona 4: Ugly art, confusing scenario, annoying characters, contradictory scenes. A terrible series beyond redemption.
Boku wa Tomodachi: Funny situation, pretty girls. It can't go too far wrong. It won't be very good either, though.
Mawaru Penguindrum: The first episode was ridiculous and annoyingly avant-garde. I stopped watching after that.
Saturday's Shows:
Seikaiichi, Cardfight, Duel Masters, Tottoko Hamtaro, Shimanchu, Detective Conan: Beneath my notice.
Pretty Rhythm: Good idea, but poor execution. The computer graphics are ugly and the annoying ugly characters are annoying and ugly.
Jewelpet: I should watch this show sometime.
Last Exile: I still haven't seen this new series. :(.
Fairy Tail: A great show in the midst of a great new arc. Since the anime is just barely behind the manga, maybe they intend to stop Fairy Tail after this and go on hiatus? My complaints with Fairy Tail remain, though. The art isn't as good in the anime as it is in the manga. One of the top 20 anime ever.
Bakuman: A great show in the midst of a new development, what do you do once you Are serialized and a success? Can you maintain that success? Good times in this classic series. In the top 30 anime ever.
Shakugan no Shana: A decent show thrown into complete disarray by a new plot twist. It's too confusing to think much of the series as it currently stands. Hopefully in time all will be revealed. The production value is like usual wonderful though. In the top 70 ever.
Working!: An amazing comedy that continues to fulfill my expectations. I only hope it has more serious romance elements again like it did in the first season. The cast is so lovable and so various that it's just a delight for the eyes. In the top 30 anime ever.
C3: A story I thought was about cute box girls became a Soul Eater type demon weapon fighting series. Neither version has been very good. Who knows, maybe the third episode will be an entire new story about something entirely different too?
Sunday's Shows:
Digimon, Battle Spirits, Beyblade, CF B-daman, Fuji Log, Mainichi Kaa-san: Beneath my notice.
Phi Brain: Puzzles? I hate puzzles.
Nurarihyon: Barely watchable action series. At least you learn a bit of Japanese mythology along the way.
Gundam Age: A good start to the new Gundam series. The enemies fought intelligently, giving the Gundam a lot of trouble right out the gate. The cute blonde girl was exactly the kind of partner you'd want in life, supportive and compassionate. For a Gundam series, it's already looking above average. Since Gundam is the never-ending series that has been airing since 1979, it's cumulative worth puts it in the top 80 anime ever.
Beezlebub: The moment I saw the baby peeing in the first episode I stopped watching this show. I don't care what happened after that.
Toriko: The art looked stupid and the premise is stupid and the characters seem stupid ever since the story was introduced. Zero interest in what happened after that.
Horizon Nowhere: This show insulted Clannad, and made fun of people who liked it, which is unforgivable.
Mirai Nikki: This show is confusing, but refreshingly funny as well as exciting. It doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, which is good. A reliably mediocre show?
Hunter x Hunter: The new remake of Hunter x Hunter started off spectacularly. The new art, music, and animation were all Grade A. Eventually the story will start to falter, though, because Hunter x Hunter's plot was never that good. It never went anywhere, either. Hundreds of chapters later, nothing the story's beginning plot was based around has been resolved. As a result, Hunter x Hunter is snugly in the top 80 anime ever.
One Piece: The New World arc after a two year timeskip is suitably epic and awesome. Some of the best One Piece ever, funny, exciting, badass -- in short perfect. In the top 10 anime ever.
Ben-to: Proof of concept that you can make a story about anything, and so long as you use a few stock cliches the story will still be great. Hilarious meta-anime that proves that anime is always good no matter what you do.
Maji de Watashi: An anime that started off confusing and descended into eye candy. On the other hand, the girls really are pretty, as is the animation, and their personalities aren't bad either. . .
Fate/Zero: Fate Zero is going to take a year to clear up all the confusion the previous series, Fate/Stay, created. Maybe they can do Fate Hollow next? In any event, a very welcome addition to the Fate Stay storyline with great action, great art, and a very original concept under-girding it all. The exciting new beginning lands the series in the top 100 anime ever.
Suite Pretty Cure: Suite continues to excel in every particular. Among Pretty Cure seasons, it's in the top half. Pretty Cure is basically as good as it gets. In the top 10 anime ever.
* * * * * *
So there we have it. Around 13 must-see series, and a plethora of watchable extras, as well as a ton of junk. The Fall Season delivers a lot of everything, it's just a lot of anime whichever way you look at it.
The Fall Season should keep anyone happily occupied. It doesn't get any better than this many hit shows at once.
Meanwhile, the Saimoe contest is down to the Sweet 16. Who made it? Only 1 girl I vouched for has survived this far, Astarotte from Astarotte's Toy. She'll be in a tough match against Mikoto Misaka, the protagonist of Railgun. But predictably, all 4 girls from Madoka Magica are still in it. None of whom have to face each other in this round. So they'll probably all 4 be around for the elite eight too. Madoka Magica is showing Saimoe how it's done, that's for sure.
Only Index/Railgun and The World God Only Knows has multiple characters left other than Madoka Magica. Index/Railgun still has Index, the leading femme from Index, and Mikoto, the leading femme from Railgun. The World God Only Knows has the two shinigami girls, Elsea and Haqua. That's a surprise for me. I love the series, but I didn't take the girls to be any prettier than an average anime show. A lot of voters seem to be voting for their favorite girl, instead of their favorite looking girl. Well, beauty is internal as well as external in the end.
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