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I'm getting sort of caught up again on watching current anime, but then I'll be off again in a couple of days and once more I'll fall a couple of weeks behind in my watching.

One thing this has done is to cause me to check into more manga scans because I find it easier to go through a few manga chapters in a few spare minutes than to settle down and watch an anime episode.

My life has been godawful topsy turvy over the past nearly three years but despite having less time for anime, or perhaps because of having less time for anime, I find that I still can get a buzz out of little things in some series, and get continuously excited over a everything in a few series.

So I sit in continual amazement at what Shinbo and Shaft are doing with Nisemonogatari. I love the manner in which the story is being told, the characters who are telling it, and the massive visual overload that comes with each episode. It also helps that the BGM pushes the right buttons for me. This is a mad, wonderful dreamworld that grabs me by the throat. Rating after 7 episodes: A+

My next two top-tier series this season also have the advantage of familiarity; Chihaya Furu is continuing from last season while Natsume Yuujinchou Shi is continuing the story from the season before. Both have a spirit of warmth and good nature to them that makes the time go by like a summer day. Ratings after 17 and 7 episodes respectively: A

Another top-tier continuation is surprising me in a very pleasant way; the One Piece Mermaid Island Arc. That story arc was a murky, talky, moralizing mess in the manga. But the anime team has spread it out, filled it in, and given the characters much more reason to shine. Rating after 534 episodes: A

I haven't watched any Meitantei Conan since the beginning of the year. I always let MC slide when I fall behind, because it is like an old friend that I can count upon to be there when I have the time. And sure enough, whenever I do make the time I immediately wonder why I don't watch these episodes as soon as they are broadcast. Rating after 637 episodes: A

It appears that we may have entered Filler Hell in Beezelbub. This is a textbook example of the difference between a true manga-ka, and an anime script writer who has to come up with something to fill in some air time. Rumors are that the anime will end at the end of this season. If so, it will be too bad if it goes out this way. Rating after 55 episodes: B

A short, unexpected pleasure was Thermae Romae, a bizarre but very, very witty story of a Roman bath designer who accidentally travels back and forth in time to modern Japan and who finds ways to adapt aspects of Japanese baths that are unique in the ancient Roman world. It's a broad social satire, and the animation is deliberately flat and grotesque, but the delivery of the concept is great fun from end to end. It's almost too bad that the series was only 6 quarter hour episodes, but more might have spoiled the fun. Rating at end: A

I'm also following a fair amount of brain and eye candy:

Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki is a 3 minute short about a fat cat that is fun empty fluff. Rating after 7 episodes: C+

High School D x D is fan service trash with an Ataru Moroboshi wanna-be and no Lum, but it is worth watching if for no other reason than the animated pole dancing in the ending credits. Rating after 7 episodes: C+

Kill Me Baby varies from hysterical humor to dull repetition, but on the whole it tends to bring out more smiles than frowns. Rating after 7 episodes: B

Inu to Boku SS is a shounen take on Fruits Baskets with then main appeal being the fan service of the heroine who wears a semi-buttoned night shirt like no one else. Rating after 7 episodes: B

Ano Natsu de Matteru initially seemed to be something special. But then it turned into a nice-looking but essentially paint-by-number alien girlfriend series. I'll stick with it because it is short, but for no other reason. Rating after 7 episodes: B-

Another is a strange one in many ways, as the writers often try too hard, but the story is compelling never-the-less. Rating after 7 episodes: B

And as always, I dropped a number of new series after watching only a few episodes at most:

Recorder to Randoseru: Dropped after 1 episode: Rating: D (I can no longer remember why I disliked this so much, but that's probably a good survival technique for me.)

Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai: Dropped after 2 episodes: Rating: C (Aishiteruze Baby did this so much better.)

Senki Zesshou Symphogear: Dropped after 1 episode: Rating: D (Talk about pushing wrong buttons.)

Mouretsu Space Pirates: Dropped after 3 episodes: Rating C (Gawd, but I couldn't stand the heroine!)

Black Rock Shooter: Dropped after 2 episodes: Rating C- (Gawd, I couldn't stand the characters and the forced melodrama.)

Rinne no Langrange: Dropped after 2 episodes: Rating: C (Nice mecha – just get rid of the non-mecha characters.)