6.1.2022
Notes:
I know it's a middle grade book, but I'm trying to get back into reading so I figured I would start with something not too complicated. I reread a bunch of the Percy Jackson series back in high school, and knew nothing about these books or characters, so I figured I'd give them a go. Honestly, I'm enjoying it. It's a bit corny (certainly written for the 2015 Tumblr crowd) but that's okay, they're books for children. I like the characters a lot, it's entertaining, and the plot is enjoyable. I can't really complain about this one too much. It's fun! I also have it as a library book, which is nice because I've really enjoyed going to the public library recently.
I watched Ghost in the Shell last night with Sylvia for the first time and enjoyed it! It's one of her favorite movies so I was nervous that I wouldn't like it, but the atmospheric elements really did it for me. I have a fucking Lain themed personal site... of course I'm gonna like a classic cyberpunk movie. I didn't like how abruptly the ending happened, but it makes sense that the movie was originally set up for a sequel. I was also sort of tipsy/it was late when I watched it so I'd like to go back and rewatch to catch some details and symbolism that I'm sure I missed.
Not much to say about Monster. Slowly but surely making progress... I haven't watched it super recently.
I watched a lot of Succession last week at work and at home but have sort of petered out in recent days. I'm on the season 2 finale right now, but I want to watch some other stuff first before I finish it. I love Succession, but too much of it at once can get to be a lot.
I started listening to Batman: Unburied yesterday when driving home from my parents house, and I'm already almost done. Holy shit, it is so good. I mostly like it for its characterization of the Riddler, played by Hasan Minhaj. First of all, I didn't know he was a voice actor?? Wild. But he does a phenomenal job as Riddler, and really hits that sweet spot between villainy, loneliness, and charm. He is just so much fun to listen to. The other main character, Barbara Gordon (daughter of Jim Gordon) is equally entertaining. The combination of her/Riddler/Batman are a really fun dynamic to listen to. I'll probably finish the podcast at work today whenever it's my turn to go downstairs and shelve books.
8.29.2022
Notes:
I started watching Fate to see what all the fuss was about. People fucking love Type Moon, right? Let's see what Type Moon's big thing is. I was honestly expecting it to be not good (the only other thing I knew going in was it's based off of an eroge) but yknow what? I like it. So far, Saber is my favorite of the girls. The MC is fine; my main gripe with him is that he's so obviously a self-insert eroge MC, but he's not too bad. The worldbuilding is pretty cool as well. I've been watching this one pretty slowly, but hell, it's only 26 episodes. If I like it that much I'll probably watch some other entries in the franchise.
I LOVE Chainsaw Man. I read the first series in the span of a week or so, which is very quick for me when it comes to manga. So far, I absolutely adore this new series. The main girl is great and I like the dynamic she's got going with the devil she's attached to. Just all around good shit. Very excited to see how this continues! I've been reading it weekly.
Spy x Family is another one I've been reading on and off, mainly at work when I don't want to do homework. I'm reading the manga instead of watching the anime because I like the art style of the manga more and honestly, I barely have the attention span for anime as of late. It's cute! The art is good! Wouldn't say I'm terribly invested in this one, but it's fun to read to pass the time.
Alright. HEAR ME OUT. I'm quarantining for COVID at the moment, bored as hell, and randomly decided to rewatch some of Doctor Who season 3. It's honestly pretty good! I have some complaints with the treatment of some of its characters (namely Martha, they do her so dirty) but a lot of the episodes are genuinely pretty fun. So far my favorite episodes of the season have been Gridlock and, of course, Blink.
12.26.2022
Hey team, it's been a while. Because of that, I'm going to divide things into finished/almost finished, and current.
Finished:
Notes:
I began reading Fire Punch at work because I've read almost everything else Fujimoto has put out, and I wanted to see the progression from his first manga onwards. I went in knowing the opinions on FP are extremely mixed -- some people love it, some thing it's awful -- and I would say after finishing it, I land somewhere in the middle. It suffers from some pretty serious pacing problems, but the moments where it's good are GOOD. This manga has some very high highs, and very low lows. My favorite character is, of course, Togata. I think we should have more batshit crazy transmasc representation in media, so well done FP. I also liked Agni a lot, although he was written sort of inconsistently. A pretty decent first manga for a very talented magaka.
I actually read Look Back before Fire Punch, so I guess this should go first but whatever. Look Back is, in my opinion, the best thing Fujimoto has written. It's a one-chap, so it lacks a lot of the things Chainsaw Man 1 or 2 have, but damn it is so good. Nobody reads this blog, but on the off chance you find this, go read it! Absolutely phenomenal. I can tell he enjoyed making this manga.
I finally watched Nope after meaning to since it came out. Jordan Peele is really in his element with a very cool scifi/horror blend like this one. The commentary on Hollywood and animal exploitation is also a neat angle that I'm glad to see getting some traction. I'm going to see if I can find some behind the scenes footage about the inspirations for Jean Jacket, because I have no idea how Peele came up with his design other than maybe having a weird dream about it.
How do I even talk about Mob ending? This show has meant so much to me for so long. I've watched it since Season 1 began airing in 2016 after probably picking it up from an anituber like Mother's Basement or Digibro (god, throwback). Instantly fell in love, watched the first season, waited a couple years, got halfway through the second, read the entire manga, finished the second, was hooked from then on. Mob has been MY MAIN THING for the past... almost 7 years, damn. It's insane to see it all the way through like this. While I have some small gripes with the final season (some humorous/emotional elements were cut in favor of other things, and it felt a little sanitized compared to previous seasons/the manga), I have nothing to say about the final episode. Absolutely phenomenal ending. I seriously think this is the show of a generation, and absolutely the animanga that has defined my adolescence and young adulthood. Mob, thank you for everything. I genuinely might not be here without it.
Current:
Notes:
The Name of the Wind is a pretty good fantasy novel! Rothfuss has a great writing style; it knows when to be beautiful, flowery prose, and when to tone it down. This was reccommended to me by my friend Spencer, and it's been a good read so far. The magic system is extremely inventive and interesting, so much so that I kinda don't understand it? I mean, I get the basics of it well enough to understand the book, but ask me to explain sympathy and sygaldry and you might get a blank stare. I feel like this blurb sounds like I don't like the book, but I really do! Right now I'm mostly trying to finish it because I haven't finished a book in over a year.
I've been watching Breaking Bad on and off over the past year or so, and have finally made it to the last season. I'm currently watching it with my roommate so we had to stall for a bit due to finals, but we only have a few episodes left so it'll be done soon. While I've really loved Breaking Bad, season 5 has been very meh. Breaking Bad is absolutely a modern classic, but the drop in quality between seasons 4 and 5 is very noticeable. Season 5 has some pretty good moments, but those are outweighed in my opinion by some dubious quality writing. Mike is a great character, but the amount of talking he does in this season feels really out of character for me. Also there has been some REALLY corny dialogue this season. All in all, still a pretty good season compared to other television, but definitely very weak compared to the rest of Breaking Bad.
Not much to say about Chainsaw Man pt 2. Still very good! I was worried about a dip in quality but it's extremely solid. I love Asa and Yoru, and her interactions with Denji are peak. Right now the gang is trapped in an aquarium via the eternity devil. I'm excited to see where it goes! And I forgot how fun it is to read manga weekly.
Bocchi is cute, it's fun, I love the main girl. It finished a couple of days ago so I'd like to catch up on it before school starts back. I like it!
I tried to watch Bleach at the start of the semester -- as much as I enjoyed the episodes I watched, I just don't have the attention span for long anime. So I'm trying to read the manga little by little (even though it's also ridiculously long), which has been easier to break into chunks. This is also one where I read it as I feel like. It's pretty easy to put down and pick back up.
1.30.2023
Notes:
Well, update from last time: I finished Breaking Bad! Season 5 got better as it went on, so I'm happier with it after having finished. I was a little worried the finale wouldn't be able to wrap up all of the loose ends (considering how many there are) but it did a pretty decent job without being insanely hammy. Was it a little unrealistic? Yeah. It's television. But I still found it to be pretty satisfying. I intend to start Better Call Saul next, but I'm taking a BrBa cleanser first. Overall thoughts on BrBa: great show, absolutely worth the hype. I can see why this is considered prestige television.
Not much to say about Hannibal. I've seen it twice, but it's been a couple of years so I figured I'd rewatch it to keep myself semi-sane. Also, Sylvia's never seen it so it's been fun to watch with her and see her reactions/favorite characters. She likes Hannibal more than Will so far, which is a little surprising to me! But I guess she's a fan of the "kind but evil" type, so it tracks in the end.
I never played TLOU so I was super excited when I heard they were making a show, and dude, it has NOT disappointed. This show is so good for absolutely no reason. I was watching the behind the scenes content the other day, and the director (who also made the game) said their philosophy was to keep the best parts of the game, and only change it when they thought they could do better. That philosophy is directly on display, and boy has it done well. I've also enjoyed watching it with very little prior knowledge of the game -- I think it's provided abetter experience than my friends who know the plot. Last night's episode was Bill and Frank's backstory, which is apparently absent from the game, and oh my GOD. PEAK. Nobody reads this site, but if by chance you stumble here, take this as your sign to watch this show.
I really, really wanted to buy physical copies of R:Y1 but they are absurdly hard to find since I think it's on a limited run, so I finally caved and just read them online. Sorry... I swear I'll support the artist as soon as I'm able to! But it's pretty good so far. Subic's art style is perfect for the subject matter -- a little hazy, a little grotesque, slightly more subdued in expressiveness but dripping with emotion. And I think Paul Dano is actually writing it? He's done a great job! I can't wait to keep reading this one. If R:Y1 brings back my Riddler phase, hey, I'm not complaining.
Priory is really really good -- I'm not finished so I don't want to share my thoughts quite yet, but when I do finish I'd like to post a review in the (currently nonexistent) reviews tab of the site. So keep an eye out for that...