The Omen Machine:

 Now that I'm caught up on my mandatory reading (Hataraku Maou, Lazy Dungeon Master), it was time to read all these new Sword of Truth books I'd recently found out about.  These are long books, and they aren't mesmerizing or anything, so it's been slow going.  Nevertheless, I've enjoyed the first book in the new series, 'The Omen Machine,' with its slow dreadful buildup and horror vibes.  It's a very different threat from Richard's earlier opponents.  A series should end if there are no new ideas left to express, but The Omen Machine feels fresh as laundered clothes.  A sequel like this is a-okay.

Meanwhile, the fall anime season doesn't only consist of new series.  It also has a new season of Love Live!, which may end up being my favorite cast yet.  We were graced with two, two! song and dance sequences within just the first episode.  I can't imagine how much beauty will occur by the 13th episode.  Right now I have this Nijigasaki version of Love Live! rated as the 2nd best anime of the year, second only to Railgun T.  I'm already more excited about this than the ending to SAO.

There's also the Higurashi remake to consider.  How does it compare to the original?  It seems better in some ways and worse in others.  It's hard to say until the remake is complete.  How many years will that take?  Will it ever remake the whole story?  With so many details yet to pin down, it feels like both versions are must-see, just so that nobody misses out on the benefits from either of them.  Generally when there's a remake of an old series I have to make a tough call and either throw out the old version or the new, but I might count both versions towards my top anime ranking's total episode count this time.  For now I'm withholding judgment and sticking to the old version's episode count.

This actually reminds me of the Final Fantasy 7 controversy.  The Remake is fantastic, my favorite video game ever.  Does that mean you no longer need to play the original?  No!  The original has things the remake doesn't, just as the remake has things the original doesn't.  To get the full, legendary experience of FF7 you have to play both.

Technically I could have given a first impression to the Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear anime, since it had a pre-air episode available.  I don't know what to think from that episode though.  It took a segment of the story deep in and combined it with a segment from the story early on, creating a chaotic mishmash.  Does this indicate they intend to take liberties with the source throughout, thus ruining the anime?  Or is it just some dumb gimmick to garner attention and eventually they'll tell the story chronologically and faithfully?  Only future episodes can tell.

With how cheap looking the animation is, a series I thought for sure would make my rankings may end up not doing so, even if it isn't full of filler.  This sort of slapdash art style looks pretty awful when series like Majo no Tabitabi are airing at the same time.  If the makers don't care enough to put any effort into telling the story, what are we the viewers supposed to think of it?

Hanyou no Yashahime's first episode was mostly covering the canon epilogue chapter of Inuyasha.  This is a great service, it's now animated for the first time, and I quickly added it to the total episode count of the 16th-ranked Inuyasha series.  But it tells us little of the quality of the new filler sequel.  Perhaps if the filler is good enough I'll accept it into the fold, like I did Magia Record for Madoka Magica.  If it isn't good enough I could drop it like I did Bolt.  It all depends on what happens next, in episodes that can no longer rely on canon content.

Danmachi S3 is off to a strong start, introducing a new monster Loli to protect.  Nevertheless, this series will never reach my rankings because Bell won't get with Hestia like he should, instead wasting his time chasing an ugly expressionless speechless girl whose only virtue is the manly one of overwhelming strength.  With such an inherent weakness to the foundation of the story it's hard to get enthused about anything else.

There's still Strike Witches' new season to debut as well.  I'm sure it will be great, but it's original content, just like Love Live!, so I have no basis for that assurance.  I can only wait to see what the authors have in store for us.  Obviously not the end of the war, since Luminous Witches is slated to air next year.  But I hope there's at least some plot progress.