I'm pretty glad it wasn't THROAT CANCER.

Episode 20 was a really good episode. Even still, I thought it would only resonate with people who liked Chihaya to begin with, but looking around it seems it also served to sway some of her previous critics.

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.

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.

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!

"Filler episodes are not necessarily all bad. They work when used as an excuse to play with the characters...just look at this Xbox 360 in the cockpit with the twins."
ani-nouto

Wait, what?

I was too busy looking for Xenoglossia references.

Well, I'll be damned. I didn't notice. This is starting to turn into a regular occurrence.

"I also loved how Minko still had that sushi plushie that Tohru won. Oh, if only he had gone for the tentacle!"
seaslugteam.com

Wait, what?

Minko's sushi plushie from Hanasaku Iroha episode 12.

Minko's sushi plushie from Hanasaku Iroha episode 26.

Well, I'll be damned. I didn't notice. The pattern is different, though.

Shana scenes suck when her hair isn't on fire.

I generally strongly discourage people from skipping seasons. Typically they do it so they can follow something shiny and new and/or watch something at the same time as their friends so they'll have something to talk about. This can lead to very poor decisions, such as watching Diebuster before watching Gunbuster, or watching Shikabane Hime: Kuro without watching Shikabane Hime: Aka. I have less of an issue with people skipping previous Mobile Suit Gundam seasons (at least for series in different continuities) since there are so damn many of them, or skipping previous Macross iterations, although I do insist on people watching the original Cho Jiku Yosai Macross; do not be tempted to lean on Do You Remember Love? instead. Good movie, but really not a substitute for the original series—not at all.

Carmel's head thingy had the best lines.

But while I feel it is wrong on principle to skip seasons, especially when one's reasons for doing so fall in the "shiny and new" camp, I can make an exception for Shakugan no Shana II. I watched 24 episodes of this second Shana season because I enjoyed the first season and wanted to give the upcoming third season a try. This may have been a mistake. Shana II is every bit as awful as its reputation warned me. Shana II is 24 episodes of tedium occasionally interrupted by insipid fights. It is WORSE THAN COSPRAYERS, I finished Shana II with great reluctance. It was never ever actually BAD in the way Limeiro CROSS or Macademi Wasshoi! were truly bad; it just wasn't ever compelling, or even interesting.

Kazumi has a little trouble with her jeans.

To put things into perspective, the multi-episode climactic battle at the end of Shana II kept giving me flashbacks to the Demonbane anime. Now, Demonbane is by no means good, but I have to say that it was at least more interesting than Shana II. This is especially true of the fights. I've long harped on J.C. Staff and its poor track record when it comes to animating fight scenes (excellent Azumanga Daioh snowball fight notwithstanding), but I remember even the worst Demonbane fights against the shrieking mad scientist to be more engaging than climactic season finale fight scene against the shrieking mad scientist of Shana II. And I'm not just saying that because Mr. Eroge Protagonist from the Demonbane anime had to soul kiss a book every time to make his giant robot go. Well, he didn't have to, probably. He just did. But I digress. Shakugan no Shana II is a horror, and I will be amazed if Shana III requires any foreknowledge of its preceeding season's events. Yeah, I'll still at least start Shakugan no Shana III. It's too late to turn back now. Who knows, maybe the odd-numbered seasons will be good.

Sena is the best reason to watch Bokutomo.

This is sort of a preview to the preview for the autumn 2011 anime season, but I probably won't actually write a preview for all the shows I plan to watch, so really this is just a preview to one show that I planned to watch but now might not even start.

I'll probably at least watch this episode.

There has been a decent amount of interest in Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (which roughly translates to Friend Zone, the Animation) because the novels and manga are popular. From the 17 chapters I read, the Bokutomo manga seems all right, with kind of a Hyakko vibe to it, but I'm not a huge fan. After watching the episode 00 preview, I'm hesitant to even give the anime a chance. It frankly looks very lackluster and rather unremarkable in its execution. Even if I do start it, there's a good chance I'll drop it if all the episodes are like that.