SAO Progressive 5 read:

I've been looking forward to this book for a long time, so it was fun to finally get my hands on it.  Unfortunately, very little progress is made in the story.  Instead, our heroes are thrown into unprecedented danger.  If every floor is this hard to advance through, there's no way they would have survived to the 75th floor that's the start of the original timeline.  I hope the author realizes this and tones down the risk level in subsequent novels.  Or perhaps it's time to just give up and admit that Progressive and SAO are two wholly separate series operating in parallel dimensions. . .

I wonder about the author's plan though, taking two years to write a book and not even passing through a single floor.  This would mean not even 200 years would be enough time to complete the Progressive storyline.  Unless Reki has a secret youth elixir stored in his back room what exactly is he intending?

I do love this book, but there's a lot of flashing warning signs about the series as a whole.  It just leaves me with a great deal of disquietude.  The book ends on a cliffhanger, and who knows when the next volume will come out, so it's even more frustrating.

Akame ga Kill! Zero volume 8 was much better.  The story clipped along, everything that happened made sense, and the release schedule is prompt and regular.  We'll get to see Akame's story in full by 2019.

Now we're just waiting for Zokuowarimonogatari and the trifecta will be complete.

Fairy Tail: City Hero is another excellent spinoff of my 2nd favorite franchise.  I've added it to my manga reading list alongside all the others.

Meanwhile, it was announced that Railgun Season 3 will be airing next year, so 2019 is looking rosier and rosier.

2019 is guaranteed to have Index, Railgun, Fairy Tail, One Piece, Fate/Etc, Nanoha, SAO, Code Geass, Love Live!, Non Non Biyori, MIX, BanG Dream, Kemono Friends, Chihayafuru, Eromanga Sensei, Shingeki no Kyojin, World of Witches, Vinland Saga, on and on and on.

That's just what we know.  It's almost certain more great franchises will be announced over the course of next year as well.  2019 is situated to be one of the best years in anime ever.  It will make 2018 look like a candle held to a bonfire.

Combine that with the end of Marvel's Phase 3, Avengers 4, the ending to the Skywalker Saga in Star Wars episode IX, and the ending to Game of Thrones, and 2019 looms enormous.

As I just documented, 2018 was chock full of great experiences, but I'm looking forward to 2019 even more.