Nodame is more than a little imperfect, but
she makes up for it by being a sweetheart

Autumn 2008 did not produce any stellar shows¹, meaning there wasn't a Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, Honey & Clover, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, or the like. There wasn't even a Lovely Complex. However, it did have some very solid titles and a few shows that demonstrated mid-series potential as they resume during the Winter 2009 season.

Not fully pictured: Saki's ridiculously enormous hammer.

Final rankings for shows I watched this season follow:

Kannagi > Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter > Hyakko > Toradora! > Shikabane Hime: Aka > Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight OVA > One Outs | Dropped: Kemeko DX (4) > Kurozuka (4) > Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka (?) > Casshern Sins (1) > Mouryou no Hako (1) > Toaru Majutsu no Index (4) > Michiko to Hatchin (1) | Worse Than Cosprayers: Kiss x Sis (1) > Macademi Wasshoi (1).

Torako is more than a little imperfect, but
she makes up for it by tormenting people.

Two big surprises this season. First, I had dismissed Kannagi based on its pre-season description, but it proved to be the cream of the crop. Second, I wasn't expecting to still be watching Shikabane Hime at this stage. Thankfully, it has kept shounen jive (e.g., too much standing around talking about powers instead of fighting) to a minimum. By the way, I totally called that Yui Horie twist even before I finished watching episode one, just so you know.

I went 10 episodes before noticing Makina's bare ass in the OP.
Now I can't not see it. It's Shikabane Hime's FEDEX arrow.

To give you an understanding as to how much I loathe shounen jive, bear in mind I dropped To Aru Majutsu no Index after episode four despite fully supporting the Shizuka Itou character's decision to wear half a pair of jeans with her kid sister's t-shirt. I just couldn't take any more speeches about Not Thinking About Other People's Feelings or any more boasting about fine nuances of Special Techniques and Powers. Criminy.

I think I've actually seen people in L.A. dressed like this.

Many of the shows I dropped early on (for example, Casshern Sins) might actually be very good, but just didn't capture my interest. This is the same reason why I dropped Kaiba a couple seasons ago after watching no more than two episodes despite almost universal acclaim, for example.

Note 01: I'm not counting any of the Kara no Kyoukai movies as belonging to the Autumn 2008 season. Any of the films in this series would certainly qualify as stellar.

I really hope Datsun Nissan taps ufotable to create a commercial for the new 370Z.

Dokkoida?! ED.

2x2=Shinobuden ED.

Coyote Ragtime Show ED.

Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight ED.

Kara no Kyoukai public service message.

Nissan 300ZX commercial (not made by ufotable, as far as I know).

I'm still waiting for ufotable to animate a show entirely via claymation.

It surprises me not at all that the sixth installment of Kara no Kyoukai is excellent—the first five were excellent as well. However, Kara no Kyoukai 6 is awesome in ways I wasn't expecting.

Wait, why is Shiki dressed like a nun?

Sure, the music is top notch. The score she is producing for this title may be some of Yuki Kajirua's best work. That I already knew. Likewise, the fights are of the caliber a fan of these films would come to expect. What I wasn't expecting was discovering Azaka is a character from seemingly a completely different show.

Kara no Kyoukai ~Only Love~

Much of Kara no Kyoukai 6 feels like parody because the tone is so different compared to the first five. Plus there are those eerie Marimite vibes. And Azaka's moe blob imouto roots. The Hell did that come from? And also Azaka kinda talks like a cross between a Kugimiya Rie stereotype and genki-time Mimiru from .hack//SIGN.

Azaka bursts in on Shiki and Mikiya. Don't you ever knock, sis?

"GEH," I shit you not. It works, though, and ufotable wisely minimizes Azaka's and Mikiya's screen time together to duck those very moe blob pitfalls in the most lighthearted installment of Kara no Kyoukai yet. Alas, now my wait begins anew for the seventh movie.

Tiny pictures are the way of love, Yamada.

I had extremely low expectations of B Gata H Kei and only watched the first episode as a goof. Pleasantly surprised, it looks like be watching more because this first episode is brilliant. I knew the basic premise of the show's 4-koma roots: sex-crazed virgin high school girl ends up pursuing monogamous relationship with Potato Guy. It's a stupid or wonderful premise depending on your point of view, but either way it's hilarious in execution.

Kosuda is lucky Yamada didn't want a bigger dictionary.

Like Divine, I had initial reservations about Tamura Yukari voicing the lead girl, but she's perfect. It turns out B Gata H Kei is basically Ranpha ~The Early Years~, so Yukarin's high-school-Ranpha voice is sex-comedy perfection here.

I was much less surprised by Horie Yui's character than Noto Mamiko's.

In light of my low expectations for Spring 2010, discovering B Gata H Kei is hilarious is a very welcome surprise. Of course, your mileage may vary; comedy is a tricky thing. In my view, the most important factor is timing, not material. Since the comedic timing in B Gata H Kei has been spot on, the show works for me.

Whatever they're paying Yamada's Sex God it's not enough.

More accurately, its first episode works for me. However, I've watched too much anime to judge a show's merits entirely on its first episode. That path is quite precarious. Even a good show can lose its viewers if the follow-up episodes of a series depart substantially from expectations created by a strong first episode. Consider how many people felt betrayed after the incredible first episode of Futakoi Alternative.

Sara finds Rentarou.

Taken in its entirety, I view Futakoi Alternative as an excellent series (even more so if you've ever watched any of the dreadful original Futakoi), and I rank its amazing first episode among the best—if not the best—first episode of anything ever, but that first episode is also incredibly misleading. Many viewers soured after the frenetic first Futakoi Alternative episode gave way to contemplative (and somewhat downer) follow-up episodes.

That is one really firm size chart/scorecard.

B Gata H Kei has a great first episode, but I hope the rest of the B Gata Heckler & Koch anime isn't a letdown. Like I said, comedy is a tricky thing. However, as long as Yamada keeping putting out Sawako-with-a-libido vibes each episode I won't even care if she doesn't manage to make 100 friends with benefits. I heard there's no guarantee she'll go to heaven even if she does kill 108 dudes. [Spoiler.]

Kotori, Ritsuko, Miki, Ami, Yukiho, Mami, and Azusa on top.

So far, The IDOLM@STER TV has been the best show I'm following during autumn 2011. I'm pleased to see the 765 Pro girls' careers advance and I look forward to the inevitable scandal that threatens to destroy them when the evil rival talent agency blows the lid on Miki and her HONEY shacking up. You know it's coming.

Saber sure dresses sharper in Fate/zero than she does in Fate/stay night

Fate/zero is kinda stupid so far, but I can't resist. You could attribute it to the Ayako Doctrine, since I'm pretty stoked about having three (technically four) shows this season featuring her work. Truth be told, as much as I enjoy Kawasumi Ayako's "tough girl" voice, her "comic tough girl" voice is even better. I refer you to the Carnival Phantasm OVAs and Magical Witch Punie-chan.

I hope you weren't expecting a squid-pun caption.

Shinryaku!? Ika Musume is a worthy sequel to the first season, although thus far it seems to be playing it safe. It needs another moment like the umbrella episode to really return it to its former glory.

It turns out Guilty Crown and Dantalian no Shoka are the same show.

Guilty Crown is way better than people give it credit for even if it isn't necessarily good. It's got good stuff in it, okay? That's good enough for me. And I'm not just saying that because that one girl's zero-gravity breasts are obviously some artist's labor of love.

Cure Muse kinda sucks, to tell you the truth.

Suite Precure♪ really benefits from having Koshimizu Ami, Orikasa Fumiko, and Toyoguchi Megumi on the cast, much more than Heartcatch Precure! ever did from having Banana Mizuki or Hisakawa Aya on its cast. All five are very talented voice actresses, but Mizuki Nana was completely wasted as Tsubomi and Hisakawa Aya never impressed me as Cure Moonlight (nor as Sailor Mercury neither, through the first 46 episodes at least). If you listen to their stock footage transformation catchphrases, for example, Koshimizu Ami adds a lot of verve to her role, and Toyoguchi Megumi announces herself with real authority. I totally buy that she's about to beat some ass. Fumiko Orikasa...man, I'm just glad she's working again outside of that Bleach black hole.

Sen's understanding of "half off" differ's from Inori's.

Ben-to probably would have made a good two-episode OVA. I can't see watching more of this, even if Panty is in it eventually.

Needs more Ran service.

Detective Conan is Detective Conan. I expect it will continue to be as good as it always is, discounting the anomalous previous cour.

That's funny, the damage doesn't look as bad from out here.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai is about as good as the manga, I suppose, but I'm not a big fan of that either. I've met my goal of watching enough to see the eroge episode, so I think I'm done—both with the anime and the manga. It's just not especially interesting, and the character designs aren't appealing.

This is basically all Shana needs to succeed: fire and grimacing.

Shakugan no Shana Final is kinda poor, but making Yuji a villian is a good move. Oops, spoilers. I was half-wrong when I claimed there was no need to watch Shana II before watching Shana III. You won't know what the Hell is going on if you skip from Shana I to Shana Final, but then again there's a 50/50 chance you'll still be horribly confused by the start of Shana III even if you do watch the second season. Anyway, Shana III is pretty lousy, but sweet Haruhi, it's not nearly as bad as the second season was. Plus more Ayako!

Fate/Zero Saber is the best-dressed Saber.

I definitely like the Fate/zero Saber more than I like the Fate/stay night Saber. Specifically, Fate/zero Saber > Unlimited Blade Works movie Saber > Carnival Phantasm Saber > Fate/stay night game Saber > Fate/stay night series Saber.

If you think about it, Saber is a mahou shoujo.

I probably like the Fate/zero Saber best because she seems sensible and not retarded. That has always been my biggest beef about the Fate/stay night Sabers. She seems a little...slow in both the game and the television series. I guess she also seems kinda slow in the Unlimited Blade Works movie, but it's less objectionable there because of her diminished role. In her game route and the anime series, she and Emiya are infuriating. Most of the fault lies with Emiya. Famously, the player quickly realizes that the correct choice in the game is always the "noblest" one in accordance with the Otaku Virtues and never the intelligent choice.

Carnival Phantasm Saber features Kawasumi Ayako's comic tough girl voice.

Carnival Phantasm is amazing, but Saber hasn't been in it enough to surpass the Unlimited Blade Works version. Carnival Phantasm does have an enormous ensemble cast, after all.

I actually left out a whole lot of Sabers.

Aaron writes:

I don’t know if you've watched it since that blog post where you say Carnival Phantasm doesn’t have enough Saber, but ep 8 is all about her.

I bet secretly Rin wants to wear it.

Actually, I had not seen it yet at the time, but I've watched it now. As expected, episode eight is pretty awesome. I think I do need to put Carnival Phantasm Saber ahead of Unlimited Blade Works Saber. Hell, I'll move her ahead of Fate/zero Saber if the latter ends up spending most of the season with a useless thumb panda hand, even if she is a snappy dresser.

Needs more of this sort of thing.

Great outfits are a TYPE-MOON staple, it seems. (Yes, I'm including the extended universe and derivative works.) Rin's red sweater over black zettai ryouiki, Arcueid's white turtleneck with long purple skirt, girl Shiki's red leather jacket with a kimono, Karen Ortensia's Strike Witches uniform, Sion's seifuku (I think that's what it is anyway), Phantas-Moon's low-back battle costume, and basically everything about Kaleido Ruby (except the cat ears) are all winners.

Haruka visits Chihaya's spartan apartment in episode 11.

Leading the way by a large margin in autumn 2011 is The IDOLM@STER TV. I am solidly in the camp that believes Idolmaster exceeded all expectations. It doesn't quite win the coveted No Bad Episodes award (thanks for dragging down the curve, Hibiki), and some of the early summer 2011 episodes stumbled in parts, but taken as a whole Idolm@ster performed very well. As much as I enjoyed Hanasaku Iroha in the spring and summer, iM@S is easily my choice for show of the year. Some may argue Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica deserves Show of the Year, but I believe its baggage will prevent it from being as fondly remembered in the long run.

Chihaya alone in her apartment, episode 20.

I am both disappointed and relieved Idolm@ster did not use a Miki + Producer scandal as its final plot arc—disappointed because I have a perverse interest in drama and trauma in my -rama, but relieved because the actual final arc was a great way to end the season that fit very well with the tone and progression of the show over its 25 episodes. Thankfully, it also leaves the door ajar for another 25 episodes.

Chihaya's apartment, episode 25.

I'm conflicted as to whether Idolm@ster is a harem comedy or not. I have to conclude that it is, but it's a harem comedy the way the original To Heart anime is a harem comedy, and not in the way the insipid ToHeart2 is a harem comedy. Notably, despite more than a dozen nubile girls commanding his attention, Producer is a serious love interest to none of them. Miki might disagree with me here, and although she gives Producer the green light early and often, there is no real romantic or sexual tension between them. All the girls all fond of Producer, but in wholly appropriate ways. The girls want to be good idols for him, but they also want to succeed for their own sakes. Likewise, the girls of To Heart are fond of Hiroyuki as he serially befriends the Hell out of them, but they have their own goals and aspirations independent of him, unlike standard brainwashed harem comedy heroines inexplicably devoted to Potato-kun. Making Producer a part of his idols' lives, but not the center of their attention prevents Idolm@ster from going down a very bad road.

Inori tries to save Guilty Crown.

It's a long drop from the top spot to the second-best show I watched in autumn 2011: Guilty Crown. No matter how many unique things Guilty Crown may try and no matter what nuances it gives its characters, the package as a whole is wrapped in some of the most juvenile, cliché, and outright ridiculous developments. Still, none of these faults necessarily prevent Guilty Crown from being entertaining. If you have no stomach for a show quite obviously intended for male viewers in their early teens, then you will probably not wish to suffer through another cour of Guilty Crown. I, on the other hand, am quite looking forward to the second half of the show in winter 2012. Hell yeah.

You wouldn't hit a girl with glasses, would you?

I almost dropped Ben-to after episode two because I assumed a show based on a fairly thin gimmick would wear out its welcome very quickly. Nevertheless, I kept watching because I was determined to at least learn what Panty was doing in this show. Surprisingly, the characters remained likeable and the premise remained entertaining. The unapologetic Sega pimping helped, too. It was also good to have Horie Yui and Tamura Yukari playing off each other. They make a good duo, and the dynamic is even better in Ben-to than it was in B Gata H Kei.

They'll all be dead in a couple days anyway, de geso.

Shinryaku!? Ika Musume is not as good as the first season, mostly because it felt like it was playing off the same jokes over and over. The first season benefited from numerous examples of one-upmanship as Ika Musume learned or did something more improbable than the last. There were a few such moments this season, but Shinryaku!? Ika Musume paled in comparison to its brilliant first season.

I wonder what Conan saw in the mirror, Ran?

This was a good year for Detective Conan, particularly with regard to the summer's London arc, but the autumn portion was mostly about par for the course. It was also a good year for Ran, the 2011 Girl of the Year. The many Detective Conan OPs and EDs are notoriously cruel to Ran + Shinichi 'shippers, but the ED closing out the autumn 2011 season offers hints as to the shows eventual conclusion. (Detective Conan can't really run forever, right? Right?) Avert your eyes if you fear my psychic powers lend credence to what is admittedly merely a wild guess on my part: Shinichi will not return to his normal age. Ran will suffer the same fate as Shinichi and Haibara and become a small child again herself. Ran will finally learn Conan's secret and the series will end. I'm counting on anime's penchant for packing OPs and EDs with spoilers to ultimately prove me right. Besides, there's a legitimate way out: The numerous Kaito Kid specials this year have been good enough that I think an outright spinoff is a solid possibility. I sure hope Sawashiro Miyuki is prepared to play a scandalously clad high school ojou-sama witch for the next 10 years.

Saber and Irisviel both need hats.

Fate/zero is beautifully animated and basically better in every way possible than its horribly flawed predecessor Fate/stay night (except for lacking a Tohsaka Rin old enough to properly boast her trademark sweater + zettai ryouiki flawless combination). Even Saber manages to seem, well, not smart, but at least cool. And I like Irisviel far more than I expected, probably boosted by her fine taste in vintage automobiles. Still, the Fate/zero dialog dumps are so sonorous, and there's so much of it. I'm sure its second half will do better during winter spring 2012 when everyone starts killing each other.

Probably shouldn't have stood around being useless
while Cure Melody was getting her ass kicked, eh.

Suite Precure♪ surpassed Fresh Pretty Cure somewhere around the Cure Muse arc as the most underachieving iteration of the Pretty Cure franchise, and since then it has done nothing but continue to fall in my estimation. Suite is not quite in freefall, but Lord, it ain't falling up. For over a thousand generations the Pretty Cure were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before they started letting cats and small children into their order. Also, I really hope impressionable young Suite Precure♪ viewers do not grow up thinking Cure Melody's solution is in any way an appropriate solution to resolving a hostage situation. I hope Smile Precure! does better, but its large starting cast and rumors of additional non-human Cures fill me with dread. (Yeah, I guess I'm racist. Speciesist?) At some point, Kaoru and Michiru have got to get tired of getting snubbed by their inexplicable exclusion from the Sacred Order of the Pretty Cure and crash the show to trash the joint and bust some heads the old fashioned way. Got to.

Go on, Shana. Curse the bitch out.

Shakugan no Shana Final is not that bad. Honest! It's way better than the second season of Shakugan no Shana, okay? Then again, I still rate it below Suite Precure♪, which ought to tell you something. On the plus side, this whole season has been about war, albeit not a very competently executed war. It also doesn't help that J.C. Staff still has trouble with fight scenes. In other news, two of the main characters engaged in sexual intercourse so vigorously one of them required magical augmentation beforehand to prevent permanent injury or possible death from the encounter. True story. [P.S. Spoilers.]

UNIVERSE!

I dropped Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai after three episodes, but I accidentally acquired a copy of episode nine in a game of chance, so I watched that too. The show is all right—bettter than Shana III at least, but I don't have any interest in it. This is unsurprising because I have no interest in the manga either, having dropped it at least three times since it first came on the scene. I also don't like the anime character designs at all.