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Week in Review

04/21/2024 – 04/27/2024

Sunday

Week 11 of missing Cipher Academy

Girl Meets Rock good. Seems like the dynamics of the social web are about to shift again, with a rift growing between Takami and Ayame…

Undead Unluck super good…Feng getting stronger is a little scary, because if he ever manages to defeat Fuuko I fear that he’ll want to destroy everything in his pursuit of strength again…but also I want to believe in the connections he’s built with others in this loop…Ichico turning the previous loop’s tragedy on its head to change Nico’s version of Unforgettable is an amazing moment, though I can’t help but feel really sad for Nico regardless…Unforgettable is such a mind crushing ability even without the wife death thing, and I guess the implication here is that he held onto his sanity because of Ichico’s confession but I hope there’s some way for him to better cope with things in this loop…I’ve been really enjoying the fun and cheerful Nico we’ve been seeing so far, and I’d hate for him to just immediately revert back to his crotchety old man self from the last loop.

Monday

Touched some grass and ate some pizza

Tuesday

It’s time to get through some of these library books, the first being The Diamond Girls by Jacqueline Wilson. It’s one that I distinctly remember reading as a kid, and I think I still quite like it, reading today. It’s definitely my favourite of the three Wilson books I’ve read so far – I like the utter and overwhelming chaos that the story immediately throws us into, and even when it gives us some room for respite with the Mary segments, the nature of her living situation is so terrifying that it’s honestly like a horror movie. Dixie’s voice as a narrator is strong and distinct, and I like that you can still tell that she’s a dreamy little kid being put into these stressful situations. Some of the characterization got a little bit tiring, but I did appreciate Wilson subverting some of it by the end, like with Ryan turning out to be a decent-ish guy (still way too old for Rochelle though) and Jude actually becoming friends with the boys. Bruce was a nice character with a heart of gold, but I thought he got a little too attached to the Diamonds a little too quickly…although I guess if I were in his situation I wouldn’t want to turn a blind eye to them either. But immediately proclaiming that you’d like to be some kid’s uncle and stay in her life even though she’s just the estranged daughter of one of your clients is a little weird… Things got wrapped up a little too quickly too, by the end, but I think that’s Wilson’s trademark – just 95% stress and drama before a perfect happy ending, and I can’t really fault her for that.

Ummm Manga Tuesday I guess, which is just in time for the new Chainsaw Man chapter. As usual, I have no thoughts on it – I feel like I won’t be able to tell what’s going on in Part 2 until it ends and I can reread the whole thing from start to finish. Structurally I think I like Part 1 a lot more…

Dandadan good.

Took a break to watch the latest Game Changer episode while I ate lunch and wow I loved the chaos and the way it somehow accurately simulated people going insane in a time loop. All the bribery was fun, as was the contestants starting to say the scripted lines as they were being said by the other presenters. I also love how this continues to spur on the conspiracy theories that the fandom is cooking, and I really do hope there’s some multi-episode foreshadowed twist by the end.

Magilumiere good! Everything’s really coming together now.

One Piece good…I’m nervous for what’s to come.

Wednesday

Ah

Thursday

Very good episode of DunMesh today (with a side of meatballs). Loved all the action, especially with how brutal it could get due to the rules of the dungeon. Kabru doing all his little machinations in his mind was fun, as was him getting the sneak attack on Falin. The Laios and Shuro confrontation was also interesting and revealing of character, but I feel like everything about DunMesh’s writing has been talked to death already so I don’t want to just repeat what I’ve seen on Twitter. My general DunMesh thoughts are just that Ryoko Kui obviously has the writing chops to construct an absolutely original and airtight story, and it’s just fun to be a part of the ride.

Friday

I’ve been in the mood for some TV, and also wanted to pare down my watchlist a little, so I decided to check out Sharp Objects. I’ve heard good things about it and I like small town mystery stories, so I thought I’d like this one too…but the first episode just annoyed me so much that I dropped it right away and read the series synopsis on Wikipedia lmao. Everything about it was just so…screenwriting 101? In the sense that it was like they were checking off bullet points from a How to Write a Screenplay textbook; the tortured protagonist with substance abuse issues returning to their hometown to literally and figuratively confront their past is already well-trod ground as it is, but then every line of dialogue was so basic and boring and acted with all the enthusiasm of a mannequin going through the motions. At first I was wondering if the stock dialogue was some sort of tool being employed by the writers, like a metatextual façade being purposely put up for the sake of the mystery, but no it’s just how it is and I hate it. And judging by the Wikipedia summary that I read, I definitely would’ve hated watching the story progress and the ending, so I’m glad I can just write this one off.

The next show I tried was This is a Robbery, that Netflix documentary about the Gardner Museum art heist. I only got through half of it today, and it’s pretty…standard, I would say. You’ve got the dramatic graphic design and the million interviews and the goofy ass re-enactments of what happened (I know why documentaries do them but it doesn’t stop them from being silly as hell) – just the basic Netflix hyperproduced documentary flair with a dash of being high on its own supply in terms of drama. I thought I would like this documentary because I somewhat enjoy true crime but not the intrusive “accidentally ruin people’s lives due to media attention” kind, so an art heist felt like a nice middle ground between being interesting but still somewhat low stakes…but so far, it’s been pretty slow-moving and meandering and I wish they’d get to the point already.

Saturday

LMAO okay so the reason why This is a Robbery was so meandering and chasing all these dead ends was because there’s no real ending to this story, and I’m so mad that I wasted four hours of my life on this stupid shit. I guess I should’ve looked it up beforehand but I didn’t want to be spoiled…I kind of assumed that if they were making a whole documentary about it, there was going to be an interesting story or narrative to be told…but no, it was just an overproduced publicity stunt to get more attention on the case… They spent so much time interviewing all these people (LITERALLY WHAT WAS THE POINT OF GETTING A WHOLE EX-IRA GUY JUST TO SAY A FEW LINES AND “YEAH IT WASN’T US” BRO ALLOCATE YOUR RESOURCES BETTER PLEASE) and going into the granular details of the case and possible theories about the suspects and their whole organized crime web and I thought it was all going to tie together somehow or be in service of some grand narrative but no!!! This documentary has zero storytelling weight and really shouldn’t have come into existence. All it did was highlight how dogshit the FBI and the police really are. I just wanted some answers and to see how the heist was actually carried out, but I guess real life is rarely as interesting and narratively satisfying as Ocean’s Eleven. I’m giving this thing a 1/10 for annoying me so much and wasting my goddamn time.

Agh…most of the TV shows I’ve watched recently have been duds… This isn’t helping my irrational fear that I won’t find anything that’ll reach Succession’s heights ever again… Granted, I only finished This is a Robbery because I thought there’d be some sort of payoff by the end, but I need to be more discerning with which recommendations I should actually follow through on in the future.

#week in review #2024

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Week in Review

04/14/2024 – 04/20/2024

Sunday

Week 10 of missing Cipher Academy

Woah, another new character in Girl Meets Rock…I’m a little trepidatious but let’s see how it goes… Always appreciate more Machiavellian Rin, though.

I didn’t have a lot of time for manga today, but I read the new Unluck Undead chapter because I wanted to see the popularity poll results. Like a lot of fans, I was surprised to see Tatiana up so high, but I’m soooo happy to see Feng at third. Then the chapter itself went and reminded me that oh yeah he’s kind of a complete asshole at times… But it seems like Nico giving him a talking to was enough to change his mindset a little. I’m excited to see how this tag team shiritori match goes, especially with Feng already being able to target the pieces of Language’s soul embedded in her creations. (Also how did he braid his hair so fast…I really would’ve liked to just see ponytail Feng or hair down Feng…)

Monday

Oshi no Ko fine. Sometimes the insertion of comedy to soften dramatic blows gets a little grating.

Dandandan good, this mangaka’s creature designs are always some of my favorites, and this one is no exception. It seems like we’re going through the regular cycle of a kid being overtaken by supernatural powers before incorporating those powers into their own fighting style and joining the team, though, and I’m really hoping this is the last. I don’t know how much more I can take before Dandadan feels like it’s really just spinning its wheels.

Magilumiere fine. It appears we’ve been flung into the endgame all of a sudden.

Chainsaw Man fine. We got some fun banter between Quanxi and the others, at least.

Watched through the rest of the Glow Up season and it was generally uneventful (I skipped the Metaverse episode because LMAOOOO fuck that dumb shit). The drag episode was my favourite, as it felt like they were having a lot of fun being self-referential and irreverent (bringing back the model from the infamous I Like To Watch video was an inspired choice). Roo’s look for Cheddar was really breathtaking, too. Other than that, I’m just glad that the person I was rooting for won.

Finally continued my Undead Unluck reread and it’s so good… The best part about Loop 101 for me is how every arc feels like a completely different genre. Fuuko and Void’s boxing match was so hype, Fuuko defeating Sean and his switchblade with ease was such a nice full circle moment, the Buroja War arc was fantastic in terms of character development across the board (gay of Billy to find Tella by the scent of his conditioner though), and the Phil arc was fun, but I mostly loved it for all the Sean/Gina moments it provided.

Tuesday

Agh

Wednesday

Aghhhhhh

Thursday

I can’t believe I missed DunMesh Thursday but I was truly knocked out after rushing work once again. But I did have time to read the latest chapter of Yuria-sensei no Akai Ito – it seems like learning about her dad’s affair and coming to understand her sister’s perspective is what’s going to push Yuria to chase her own wants, which I think she rightfully deserves at this point.

Friday

I’m not gonna lie I got some insanely bad news today so I’ve just been lying in bed depressed out of my mind

Saturday

Undead Unluck reread made me feel better…especially since the Tenraisai arc is so fun and funny. The exploration of the familial bond between Feng and Shen is so cute and touching…and that being the crux to Shen winning their bout was absolutely perfect. One thought I did have while rereading was realizing how…Feng has kind of overtaken Shen as my favourite character… 101 Shen just doesn’t have the tragedy-tinged unhinged energy of 100 Shen that I loved so much, and meanwhile Feng has just grown more and more likeable while still being a battle freak… And he’s even funnier in the subsequent high school arc, which was super wholesome and fun as a whole. (But wow, Chikara’s parents deciding to time travel with Chikara at the end kind of fucked me up, because for all their relatives know, they just disappeared for 16 years…). I decided to stop reading here since I’m pretty much caught up, and I’ve just fallen more in love with Undead Unluck now that I can actually remember more than 50% of the plot. At this point I might raise its score from a 9 to a 10 (I had docked it points for being so heterosexual and having so many fridged relatives, but now I’m just enamoured by the story’s heart and compassion), but I’ll save that thought for when the series ends.

DunMesh Saturday…with a side of spicy ramen and cheese rice cakes to soothe my depressed soul…it was a fun episode…seeing the groups collide and the new social dynamics forming was fun…the first next episode should be fun too…

#week in review #2024

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Week in Review

04/07/2024 – 04/13/2024

Sunday

Week 9 of missing Cipher Academy

Monday

It’s a Manga Monday sort of week (instead of the usual Manga Sunday).

Woah, new character in Girl Meets Rock…I do like that the social web continues to expand, it feels true to life of the band and choir circles I used to run in in high school.

FENG!!!!!!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHH (Undead Unluck) I’ve really grown to like this tsundere single father – the way Fuuko has filed down his fangs is so funny and endearing (as opposed to the horrible monster he was last loop when he killed my other favourite character, Shen). Plopping a guy literally all about physical combat into this intellectual word game is just the sort of unexpected twist that keeps things interesting, and I’m really excited to see how he fares (despite martial arts being his main focus in life, I do think he’s intelligent and crafty enough to maybe make some clever moves).

Oshi no Ko was fine. Didn’t really need a sympathetic backstory for the mysterious child god but okay.

Dandadan was fine. I liked the one honor student looking guy leading the charge of the delinquents, but Otarun entering the scene was definitely the highlight. This stretch of the manga just feels a little like meaningless spectacle (which, now that I think about it, worries me a little with regards to the anime. Dandadan’s fights are always high octane city destroying spectacles, so I hope Science Saru will be able to keep up…).

Magilumiere fine.

Chainsaw Man fun, mostly because people made funny Quanxi and Asa memes.

Tuesday

Busy today

Wednesday

Finally got around to watching the new Game Changer episode, and it was a definite improvement on the last one. Watching the layers of fuckery unfold was great, though I feel like the PA prompts were a little unbalanced in terms of the “gameplay” since they’re all nice people who would probably never say no to a PA outright.

Thursday

Today’s menu is chicken and mushroom broth with a side of mini pizza pockets (don’t judge me) for the DunMesh episode, which paired nicely once they got past the snot stuff and went to the potage stuff. After a few heavier episodes, I appreciate Kui balancing the tone out with some more slapstick comedy chapters, and Trigger has done a great job adapting the comedic beats (as they always do). We got the infamous Chilchuck birds and the bees scene, as well as the human face gourd sight gag and stone tsukkomi Marcille, and it was just a fun time overall.

Friday

The Drag Race lip sync tournament was alright. (I refuse to type out “lalaparuza” in earnest) I’m glad to see Mirage get some redemption, though I would’ve liked to see her go all the way, but Megami’s redemption was an even greater sight to behold. She just imbues her lip syncs with so much character and personality, and seeing that win over Mhi’ya was honestly pretty cathartic. (Lowkey I think Plasma should’ve won against Mhi’ya too, but whatever…) But in general, I wasn’t particularly wow’d by any of the lip syncs. I don’t know, last season just had so many heavy hitters (Sasha, Anetra, Jaxx, Marcia Marcia Marcia) that made the tournament genuinely exciting, but of this season’s batch I think only Mirage is on that same level to me (sorry Mhi’ya and Morphine…you can definitely dance but I wanted something more…). I’m cautiously excited for the finale next week – it’s looking like it’s Sapphira’s to lose, but I really hope Nymphia can pull through…

Saturday

Wanted something easy to watch in the background while I did other stuff so I booted up season 5 of Glow Up, which I hadn’t watched yet. Glow Up is one of those reality competition shows that I casually keep up with because I like seeing people be creative, but after Ophelia’s amazing run in season 2 I haven’t cared much about the other contestants/winners so far. Also I know next to nothing about make-up, so it’s kind of funny when I see something and I’m like oh that’s nice and then the judges are like that’s horrible and disgusting I can’t believe they’ve done this lol. I only managed to watch one episode today, but I do like how much Glow Up emphasizes the industry/working side of things and how almost all of their main challenges let us see the contestants not just utilize their make-up skills but also their ability to communicate with clients and supervisors. The classic first episode “do a look that tells me about yourself” challenge is always fun too, because you get to see which MUAs actually have a unique perspective and which just draw some hearts and call it a day. I think the person who did the bald cap anxiety look was my favourite – I appreciated how they didn’t go super literal with it, instead evoking the raw feeling of anxiety itself. Good stuff.

#week in review #2024

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Week in Review

03/31/2024 – 04/06/2024

Sunday

Week 8 of missing Cipher Academy

Girl Meets Rock continues to be cute, and I love that Rin continues to be weirder and weirder.

The Undead Unluck chapter made me emotional because it felt like I was reading a Cipher Academy chapter again… Shiritori with any language in the world would’ve been right up their alley…though perhaps it’d be a little too straightforward for them. But here it’s great to see Nico go toe to toe with a Master Rule while not being a Negator yet, and I’m looking forward to seeing the creative lengths that Tozuka will push this fight towards.

Dandadan fine.

Magilumiere pretty good…it’s nice to see Midorikawa and Makino interacting platonically, that’s not a duo I ever would’ve seen coming. Midorikawa getting a moment of vulnerability is soooo cute.

Chainsaw Man good! Always love getting some gay ass devils.

Monday

Hmm

Tuesday

Continued my Undead Unluck manga reread, though I didn’t get very far – I was basically crying the whole time I was reading, and then I went to wash and moisturize my face so I didn’t want to read more and mess up my skincare. But I did get to the loredump about Remember, which I’d completely forgotten… I don’t know how I feel about everyone in Loop 101 regaining their memories, if I’m being honest. I kind of liked the bittersweet tragedy of Loop 100’s deaths driving Fuuko forwards and giving her the determination to overcome anything in her path, and I wonder/worry about the current versions of everyone being erased/overtaken by their past memories (especially with characters like Julia). I suppose the 101 characters will only be recalling their past selves and the 100 characters have definitively, in their own perception, died, so there is a sense of finality there. But then with all this talk about souls, maybe not… Well, a super happy ending wouldn’t be so bad either.

I’m starting to work through my library backlog again, and the first was a super short book from Jacqueline Wilson, Worry Website. I thought I’d never read it before, but when I was going through I was struck with an intense familiarity with the illustrations and some of the story beats, so I must’ve read it at some point in my childhood. For what it is, it’s pretty cute – just a collection of stories about a few problems that kids could relate to and maybe get some catharsis from seeing them resolved. I liked getting a sense of the connections between the kids in this class with the tidbits of lore dropped here and there, as well as seeing Mr. Speed get his own little romantic arc in the background. I wonder if some of the problems were a little too easily resolved to be useful/satisfying to kids going through the same thing though? And then there’s that one really sad and realistic one that just doesn’t get much of a solution at all lol…but again, it’s for pretty young kids so I can understand Wilson wanting to keep things relatively light.

Wednesday

I played a little free game called Cureocity, and it was…okay… I feel like I can’t harp on it too much since it’s so short and free, but the puzzle aspect of it felt pretty clunky and unintuitive at times, and it didn’t expand on it much throughout the few puzzles it had. The story was also pretty whatever and bare bones, hampered by its lackluster translation (I can tell they’re trying, but it keeps getting tripped up). The best thing about it is the art, and not much else. 3/10.

Reread some more Undead Unluck…namely the rest of the Ragnarok Arc…and yeah, I cried the whole way through. Seeing characters like Feng join the fight…everyone united in their desire to protect Fuuko and send her off to the next loop…her having to witness all of their sacrifices…AKIRA SHOWING UP ONE LAST TIME TO BE THE NARRATOR… It does a really good job at being completely devastating and being the strongest motivator possible for both Fuuko and the reader to want God dead.

I read some more because I couldn’t bear to end things there. And I’m so glad that one of the first things Fuuko does this loop is saving Akira from his fate ahhhhhhh now I can imagine him drawing manga for his mom and growing up happily… Thank you Tozuka…

Thursday

DunMesh with a side of stir fried tofu and preserved duck egg today – YES WE GOT THE LAIOS CHILCHUCK SENSHI “I LOVE YOU GUYS” HUG!! It’s funny whenever we cut back to Kabru’s party and see just how absolutely dogshit they are at adventuring. But then getting the insight into Kabru and his perspective on the world is really interesting for how much of a foil he is to Laios. Where Laios understands monsters and their patterns, Kabru understands humans and their personalities and motivations. It’s fascinating to watch him explain his process, and then see him connect the dots in his mind in order to manipulate Shuro to let them tag along.

One thing I was thinking about while watching the episode was, I guess, a slight disappointment with the anime adaptation. It’s objectively excellent, and Trigger is probably one of the only studios who could even hope to bring the manga to its full animated potential, but I think it just speaks to the strength of the manga’s art and flow that leave it the platonic version of the story for me.

Friday

I needed something to watch while eating dinner, and I remembered that I was still watching through Nisemonogatari, so I booted it up and was met with the infamous toothbrush episode lol I truly don’t really know what’s happening here (as someone who’s already confessed to not understanding most of Monogatari as a whole), so I’m just going to move on.

Yayyyy Nymphia made it to the top three of Drag Race! I had a feeling they’d give her a win this episode to make her seem like better contender in the face of the other two “four win” havers, and I’m glad it’s because she’s finally opened up and let us see a little bit of who she is. Watching Ru direct the girls in the photoshoot was surprisingly really fun – I wish they would do more modelling/photoshoot challenges because I feel like that’s an important part of a drag queen’s skillset in today’s media age, but I guess it’d be too short in terms of content so they relegate it to mini-challenges most of the time. I’m looking forward to the lip sync tournament next week – my prediction is that Mirage will win the whole thing.

Saturday

After five whole years, I finally got around to watching the Aqours movie, Love Live! Over the Rainbow (this should give you a good idea of how long I can let things set on my watchlist without touching them lol). And it was…extremely mid. Just a room of writers finding any flimsy excuse to introduce conflict but not Really, and have everything be solved by an idol concert at the end. Tsuki’s character was completely pointless and perfunctory – just someone to clickbait the audience in the trailer, to guide the girls around Italy because she conveniently happened to live there, and to hold the camera for them while they perform. Mari’s marriage was also so obviously trailer clickbait – after running around Italy and doing Anime Slapstick Hijinks for like twenty minutes, the whole thing gets resolved by, you guessed it, an idol performance. I don’t know, I used to really like Love Live, and Aqours is my favourite group, but recent managerial decisions have made me so disillusioned with the franchise, and this just reeks of a movie written with corporate holding a gun to the writers’ heads. 3/10 because at least Believe again is a banger.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

03/24/2024 – 03/30/2024

Sunday

Week 7 of missing Cipher Academy

WORK IS FINALLY FINISHED GOD FINALLY I CAN READ BOOKS AND MANGA AND WATCH MOVIES AND TV SHOWS AND ENJOY LIFE WITHOUT THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES HANGING OVER ME

Undead Unluck with another amazing chapter as always. I like how Lan contrasts Beast by being motivated by her own personal grudges, and I like how this loop’s Ichico bucks so hard against the previous narrative of her dying for Nico’s gain. With Fuuko so far away, I really hope Nico and Ichico figure out a creative way to take Lan down by themselves.

Okay yeah, I think I’m going to drop RuriDragon. It’s a cute manga, but the translation voice is annoying me too much and I can’t comfortably get into the groove of the story. I wish the mangaka all the best, though, and I hope their new schedule works out for them.

It’s so funny seeing Oshi no Ko just carry on like normal as if they didn’t just drop a grenade in the last chapter lol but oh boy let’s give some characterization to Melt, who I honestly don’t really care about. The bit at the end was funny at least, and I hope the god child beefs it at acting.

Aghhhgh it’s hard to enjoy these cute heartwarming moments of Momo and Zuma bonding when it’s so obvious that it’ll never go anywhere because all signs point to Momo ending up with Otarun… I wish the mangaka wouldn’t introduce secondary love interests unless they were serious about giving them a shot at “winning” by the end… (Fruits Basket you’ll always be famous for this.)

Chainsaw Man!

Woah literally everything is happening in One Piece right now… First off, thank you Oda for the drop of Lucci/Kaku sustenance, I did vaguely ship them ten years ago when I watched Enies Lobby for the first time. It’s always cute seeing Luffy’s Looney Tunes fighting style, and wow now that ancient giant armor thing is arriving…

I’d been saving the Undead Unluck season finale for when I was done my work thing, and I’m so glad I did… This was the chapter that got me fully hooked on UU, and seeing it adapted so beautifully and as the end to the whole season was so incredible… Not only was the action fantastic and fluid, but they really nailed all the emotional beats… Anno’s voice acting was amazing and I cried basically the whole way through his monologue and the ENDING AND THAT FIST BUMP AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I cried so hard I literally gave myself a headache… The ending of this arc and knowing what Anno means to Tozuka gives this story so much more weight and meaning to me… Anno’s desperation to be known and heard and understood may have some more life or death stakes in this context, but I think his feelings are relatable to anyone who’s ever wanted to convey something through their art. And to have the whole crux of the arc and the fight’s success on his sacrifices and message is so moving, and that perfect title drop of “To You From Me” gets me every time. This episode was just so so so so perfect, and I really hope that the anime will get more seasons after this. It’s definitely been a bit of a bumpy ride in terms of quality, and Tozuka’s ambitious ideas don’t always translate well to a weekly anime production, but I think at its core, the team always knew when and how to hit the big emotional moments and I really appreciate them for that. I’m just glad that the anime has such a distinct vision, and isn’t just another soulless carbon copy shounen adaptation. I have Undead Unluck as a whole ranked at a 9/10, but the anime by itself will be a 8/10 for me.

Monday

The new Game Changer episode was interesting, but truth be told I found it a little boring. There were a few funny moments, and I liked all the prop design and how they found new art-themed challenges for them to do, but in terms of comedy there wasn’t much there (not that I was expecting much from people who are professional artists and not comedians).

I finished reading Downton Abbey – A Celebration, and it was perfectly mid. Just a little companion book to the show where you can get some extra details about the characters and how their actors perceived them and some interesting details about the historical period and the set design. If I cared about Downton as much as I did Succession I’d probably devour this book, but for what it is it’s just fine.

Played a little itch.io game called Flesh, Blood, & Concrete and it was pretty fun. The Soviet atmosphere and the meat aesthetic were all on point, and it even got me with a jumpscare, but I appreciated that the tenseness of the horror was punctuated with some moments of levity with Nika (who I found super cute). I think it communicated its themes clearly for such a short game, and I had a fun time exploring each apartment and collecting an ungodly amount of little trinkets. 7/10.

Felt nostalgic about Undead Unluck after finishing the anime so I decided to reread some of the manga since I sped through it so fast the first time through. I remembered most of the key hype moments, but I was surprised to see just how many smaller plot elements I completely forgot. Seeing Feng and Shen’s fight with more context makes it so much more compelling, and also funny when you think about 101 tsundere single father Feng. I think I was so shocked at my favourite character dying that I’d forgotten most of everything else in the Summer arc, but this time I could really appreciate Shen and Mui’s bond and Mui coming into her own as a Negator. But the real highlight of this readthrough was seeing Fuuko’s growth as a fighter and a character – her world’s opened so much after meeting Andy, and now she’s out there being social and getting to know and love people and expanding her own understanding of her ability and it all feels so natural but satisfying. She really is one of the best protagonists I’ve ever read in manga…Tozuka has the “emotional beat heightening a climactic action moment” thing down to a science. I also appreciate the humanization of the UMAs – they’re creatures being used by God, too, and if they could turn against him in Ragnarok then that could really turn the tide. But regardless, I like that they have their own personalities so that each quest can feel unique and not just a monster of the week situation. The competing strategic moves between Union and Under are fun, Andy and Fuuko independently coming to the realization that they’re in love is fun, the Spring fight is soooooo so much fun; once UU hit its stride it’s just been peak after peak. Dang I actually teared up at the end of the Spring fight…Spring is just so cute and sympathetic.

Tuesday

I really did blank out most of the early parts of the Ragnarok Arc from my mind because oh my godddddd I remembered that Rip and Latla tragically die but this was so… Because Tozuka imbues all of his characters with so much pathos, the Negator vs Negator fights always have such insane stakes and tension. I’ve really grown to like Rip on this readthrough…Akira was so right, he’s a nice guy who’s had to kill that part of him in order to achieve his selfish goals, and seeing him fall against Andy was genuinely heartbreaking…

Wednesday

Andy vs Nico was less hype for me – the momentum of the battle felt a little start/stop as Nico has to painstakingly explain just why he’s doing all this and why he’s so tragic, only to turn on Ghost relatively easily in order to grant Andy the win. It’s one of the lesser Negation reveals for me, but it was still decently enjoyable to read. Billy vs Ruin though ohhhhh my godddddddd Billy’s tragedy is a lot easier to understand and empathize with for me, even without the dead wife and kid stuff. The strength of his powers relying on people hating him means that he was always fated to be a villain…doomed by the narrative, one could say… But this coming into conflict with his genuine affection for the others and how it made the fight harder for him was a fantastic story beat, as was Ruin finally seeing him as a threat and giving him the upper hand because of it. And Billy promising to stay alive long enough to see Tatiana die…I haven’t talked about her much, but Tatiana is also another favourite character of mine (this manga is just filled to the brim with good characters) for the strength she’s exhibited in the face of incredible difficulties. It’s both cute and sad to see her behave like an adult when she’s so young…

Thursday

Went outside and got pho with my friend

Friday

Leftover pho tastes sooooooooo good. It’s too bad that today’s DunMesh episode wasn’t food focused, but of course I still enjoyed watching it a lot. The sight gag of the label rolling along with the dragon meat was amazing, and Chilchuck being forced to admit his human emotions for once was so cute.

Drag Race was just fine, as usual. I always get nervous for makeover challenges because my favourites tend to go home on them, but I’m glad to see Nymphia get by. I’m a little worried that she’s fading into the middle of the pack, and that she’ll have to lip sync against Q next episode… I really hope she can win the next challenge so that she can stand toe to toe with Plane and Sapphira in terms of track record.

Saturday Went outside again. When will it end

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

03/17/2024 – 03/23/2024

Sunday

Week 6 of missing Cipher Academy.

Finally got around to watching the new Drag Race episode, and it was fine. At least it was better than last week… Plane Jane trying so hard to read Dawn was funny, when I also thought that Plane’s dress was pretty basic and barely even fit the brief. The mini challenge was fun – it seems like they’re going to make this a regular thing going forward, and I think that’s a good idea. It really showcased how well Sapphira knew the other girls lol The maxi challenge was also okay…I did have to skip Mhi’ya and Dawn’s presentation because I can’t stand secondhand embarrassment, but the others did relatively well. I know a lot of people were up in arms about how Plane and especially Q should’ve won, but I found their set a little…overly rehearsed and over the top to the point of being alienating. And their jokes were just okay. Sapphira and Nymphia also had pretty okay jokes, but Sapphira’s charisma just draws people in, and I think that’s what gave her the edge. And, if I’m being really honest, it’s extremely funny to see Q so shocked at Sapphira winning, and it looks like there’ll be an entertaining fight about it next week. The Mhi’ya and Morphine lip sync was…interesting…the cape throw was certainly a move… It was a nice cap on the Mhi’ya and Morphine rivalry storyline, I suppose, but as a lip sync it just felt awkward to watch.

Watched Nijigasaki’s 4th Live, Love the Life we Live while I did some reading, and it was pretty cute. This batch of solos were all decent, and I loved seeing Shu Uchida performing – she looks like she’s having a lot of fun and is super in her element. Seeing Akina Homoto perform is also great, and Lanzhu hasn’t had a bad solo so far. The cat ears for Happy Nyan Days were cute, the Santa capes for Twinkle Town were cute, and the Osaka-ben for MIRACLE STAY TUNE was fun. A decent live overall.

Manga Sunday time! Undead Unluck continues to deliver on the lore and the stakes raising – it’s hard to imagine actually losing anyone in this loop after the failure of the last loop, so I’m glad to see Tozuka finding ways to still make each victory feel earned and against insurmountable odds, because otherwise the victory lap would go on for way too long. I’m excited to see what Language can do, and how Nico and Ichico will counteract her. This loop looks like it’ll be a battle of wits between the two Round Tables, and that’ll be a blast to watch play out.

RuriDragon is more of the same…once again the dialogue writing is really verging on cringe and alien for me, and for such a story light/character driven narrative, it’s making me want to drop the series entirely… Okay, one more week, and then I’ll decide.

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OKAY I TAKE IT BACK…OR RATHER, OSHI NO KO SAVED ITS ENERGY PULLING ALL THOSE PUNCHES JUST SO THIS ONE WOULD LAND LIKE A TRUCK… I mean, I do appreciate Aqua and Ruby’s relationship on a level of like, it must be somewhat comforting to Aqua to see a patient he failed in his past life living out her dreams now…but man, I have no idea how they’ll move forward with this storyline or resolve the incest of it all… Are we to expect that Aqua and Ruby are actually…lovers now? And that they’re just going to go through their whole lives hiding this relationship from the world…? I imagine Aqua will put an end to it eventually, but Ruby doesn’t seem like she’ll ever give up, so…? And man, if this movie came out in the real world I feel like there’d be people pushing to stop its release due to the on-screen actual incest kiss LMAO Well…either way, I’m in it for the long haul just to see how the story ends, so. Also side note but the art was really cute this chapter. They were really building up to this, huh.

Magilumiere fine.

Chainsaw Man… The Guillotine Devil’s design is super cool.

Woah… One Piece… seeing the Five Elders in their true monstrous glory is amazing… I especially like Bakotsu, the skeletal horse. But wow, this truly feels like an all-out war at this point.

Godddddd that was the best SpyFam chapter in a long while…I actually laughed out loud at the comedy for once, and the climactic payoff was so moving… It’s enough for me to want to do a livetweet of the chapter: I love Loid practically breaking his arm to marionette Anya around, and her childish need to show off just added to the comedy. The obstacle course was also cute, complete with Anya’s secret talent of “moving weirdly.” And then there’s Loid panicking at the quiz, only for Anya to obviously excel – but I do appreciate that she would’ve gotten the last question even without her mind reading (in this moment, at least), because she’s genuinely gotten to know Damian better. This whole competition thing was pretty silly, but it was a nice way to find an excuse for Damian and Anya to dance because Damian’s pride would’ve never let him do that otherwise. AND THEN SUDDEN HENRY/MARTHA SHIP FODDER????? I guess I should’ve expected it since they’re both named characters who are single and of the same age bracket, but damn I didn’t expect to actually be fed…I love seeing weird side pairings, and Martha’s super cool, so this was a fun surprise. AND THEN THE DAMIANYA DANCE it’s so cute… Loid leaving Anya to handle the situation on her own because he trusts her… Damian and Anya actually having a private conversation without their usual hostility or tsunderism or friends butting in with their own assumptions… Damian letting some cracks in his armour show and Anya noticing this… ANYA DECIDING TO TELL HIM SHE CAN READ MINDS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS THE MAJOR STATUS QUO SHIFT I WAS DESPERATELY WAITING FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Of course Damian wouldn’t believe her right away, but I hope to god it doesn’t take another hundred chapters for him to be like “wait…this literally explains everything about why she’s so weird.” It’d be so cool if he and Anya could share this secret, and maybe they could even help each other out if they ever face something like the bus jacking again… Anya’s weakness has always been that she doesn’t have the skillset to effectively use the crucial information she can gather, so if Damian could help her strategize, I think that would make for some really fun developments. But for now, I’m just glad we seem to be moving forward.

Watched through the Karen Bee arc in Nisemonogatari, and it was…okay? I find it hard to follow some of Monogatari’s long winding conversations sometimes… Like, why does Araragi say that Karen’s conviction isn’t enough because she’s fighting for other people when he’s literally doing the same thing…? Why put down her self-sacrificing tendencies when Araragi was literally ready to give up his life to save a random vampire he just met…? And why was this enough to convince her to back down? I like Kaiki as a villain, and I like his jaunty little theme song and his tired sounding voice, but why did he agree to leave town so easily…? Maybe his motivations will be answered later on? Was he lying about leaving? But surely Araragi and Senjougahara would’ve realized that he was just saying he’d stop so that they’d leave him alone? It often feels like Monogatari is operating on a level of specificity and pedanticisim that leaves me feeling lost, because all this high-minded talk of being right or wrong or enacting the “right” kind of justice or enacting justice for the “right” reasons just feels sort of like…at a certain point, I’d rather see some actions being performed rather than long diatribes about how and why certain actions should be performed. I don’t know, I’ll go read some essays I guess, but I feel like I’m just not getting into the groove of Monogatari the way so many people seem to have done. I do like Araragi and Senjougahara’s insane little romance, though, and the way Senjougahara is so unrelenting but he accepts her anyway. Senjougahara and Hanekawa’s relationship is also interesting, and it seems like that branch of the love triangle will be explored further so I’m looking forward to it. And oh my god I’m so glad I watched things in novel order, because I would’ve been so much more confused if I hadn’t watched the Kizumonogatari films before this.

I do wonder, sometimes, if I’ll ever actually truly love Monogatari. I love Cipher Academy a lot, so I wanted to give Monogatari a shot as Nisioisin’s supposed magnum opus, but seeing people heap praise onto Bake and Kizu and not feeling particularly strongly about either of those series gives me pause… I guess it’s just like, none of the philosophical questions that Monogatari has posed so far actually interest me? I don’t really like altruistic to a fault protagonists who would do anything to help anyone no matter what, and that’s literally Araragi’s biggest character flaw. And the show supposedly explores this flaw of his, but so far it hasn’t really given him any lasting consequences. And while I can relate to Hanekawa in certain ways, (and honestly some parts of her emotional turmoil parallel mine a little too well) I still haven’t really gotten emotionally invested in her…perhaps because I tend to just compartmentalize and move on, while her compartmentalizing comes back to haunt her. And now Nise’s theme of real versus fake feels so boring…it seems obvious to me that after a certain point, if one’s tangible features and or actions are indistinguishable between real and fake, then it doesn’t matter if one had the intention of being a fake. In other words, intentions mean little in the face of tangible reality and how one’s actions actually affect others. This seems fairly basic, but it looks like we’re going to take 11 whole episodes to spell it out, so it feels a little frustrating. I don’t know…I really want to like Monogatari, but it’s just not hitting.

Did some reading of the second book in Pseudonymous Bosch’s Secret Series, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and…I guess if I were to make comparisons to Mysterious Benedict Society again, it would be this: in Benedict it feels like the kids are rising to the challenge of the adults and the real stakes they pose, but in the Secret series it feels like the adults are lowering themselves to the kids’ levels in order to give them a fair shot. It’s satisfying to read Benedict to this day because the kids have to be genuinely resourceful and clever enough to not just solve puzzles but to social engineer their way out of harrowing situations with what resources they have. In the Secret series, the adults may threaten the kids’ lives, but as long as the kids conveniently know rope escape tricks or have some special gadget or can solve a basic riddle, they’ll succeed. It’s just not as compelling to read…but I’m a bit stuck because I actually own the third book in this series (childhood birthday gift) so I feel the need to read through the entire thing to see if I still like it. Granted I’m still in the first half of this book, but already the puzzles don’t feel that well thought out – first off, why give Max-Ernest a literal magic decoder that would either render all puzzles  moot or require a “oh it won’t work for This puzzle because of this or that,” rendering it useless?? Just don’t put it in the book… Secondly, you’re telling me that Cass has perfect pitch (so that she could sing the song accurately to Yo-Yoji) AND she takes oboe lessons, but didn’t even think to transcribe the notes to see what they said until the resident new kid mentions being in a band???? God, I had issues with Baccalario’s Century series and Andrew Clements’ Keepers of the School series, but at least they had some puzzles that felt like actual challenges instead of just being solved by happenstance or extremely basic lateral thinking. Also I wish Cass and Max-Ernest had some more personalized motivations as to why they’re doing all these things – just wanting to go on an adventure and become a part of a cool secret society isn’t enough…at least Century had one of their friends in mortal peril and Keepers had their whole school at stake. Also also I always liked how in Benedict, the kids being key agents in the plan to the save the world seemed to pain Mr. Benedict due to the danger it would put them in, but there was good reason as to why only children could’ve done it, and they went into the plan knowing the risks. Here, Pietro all but shoves the Magic Item du Livre at Cass and gives her some vague “only you can do it” platitude before seemingly throwing her into the deep end with the Midnight Sun, who already know where she and her friends and family live and could harm her at any time. (Speaking of which, what was the point of sneaking into her house and retying the floss she had set-up as a detection mechanism if you’re just going to leave her torn up sock puppet on her bed anyway…) I know it’s pathetic to complain so much about a children’s book, but hey other children’s books have done it better, so why can’t this one? Kids (and weird adults like me) deserve good literature too.

Monday

Work

Tuesday

Work

Wednesday

Work

Thursday

I’ve been grinding this work thing nonstop with little sleep and about one meal a day, but I didn’t want to miss DunMesh Thursday…plus, Senshi would be disappointed with the way I’ve been living lol so I decided to splurge and order some chicken tikka masala, and the local Indian place was nice and gave me some free naan to boot. Unfortunately the episode itself was a little underwhelming…? I didn’t like some of the directorial choices like the weird trajectory of that one digital zoom or the lack of impact for Marcille’s dark magic…the blood bubbling up to form Falin’s body was cool, but I was missing some of the darkness and solemnity that the scene had in the manga. Also I’m so sad that Laios’ hug was also pretty nerfed, his expression was so complex and layered in the manga but the anime only gave it about one single second of airtime… The bath scene was also missing some of its subtle ominousness from the manga… I don’t know, the vibes in this episode were just off to me, it felt like Falin’s return sunk in way too easily. But it’s nice seeing more of who Falin actually is and how she fits into this group, and Laios subtly bragging in that older brother kind of way was so cute and demonstrative of their bond.

Read the latest chapter of Asada Nemui’s Living Dead – I don’t have much to say about it but I’m nervous for Nogami getting too close to the truth.

A Second Goodbye to You finally ended…what a disappointing story this turned out to be. Whatever vague time travel rules the mangaka established just get thrown out the window completely as Hinata jumps around and teleports to key moments and locations in order to prevent disaster (which makes all of his earlier struggles with getting to certain places as a teen or as a kid feel so pointless). And on top of all that, he gets to relive his high school days and Sora gets away from his parents somehow (even though Hakuraku no longer being a part of their lives really shouldn’t have affected this much), and everything just magically and conveniently works out for everyone. I think the earlier part of this manga was intriguing because it could often shock the reader with sudden violent twists, but when it came to actually explaining what was happening and people’s motivations, it just completely fell flat. OooOOoOh he’s EVIL because he loves DEATH and DYING and wants to turn it into ART like this is some 12 year old’s conception of a “crazy” bad guy. For annoying me so much, I’ll give it a 2/10.

Friday

Drag Race was okay…I kind of don’t get how these room design challenges relate to the skillset that a drag queen needs other than like, improv comedy I guess? Q being heated continues to be very funny, especially as Sapphira and Plane Jane get a team win. It feels like Nymphia’s chances of winning are slipping further and further away, but I hope I can be proven wrong. But also, to echo the words of literally every single tweet in the Drag Race tag today, they really set Dawn up with that song.

Daraku Kazoku-ron caught my eye for being an interesting take on the “two guys raise a kid together” BL – I normally don’t really like them when they’re overly fluffy and moe-focused, but this one has been enjoyable so far. I like that Meguru isn’t just a cute kid but a little surly, and has her own opinions on the situation and how her mother treated her. The two guys already having a history gives their inevitable relationship a stronger base to stand on, and there are some actual themes of self-improvement and scenes of the two trading their differing philosophies that I appreciate. I also like that they didn’t cheap out on Touma’s shady occupation and he’s actually a yakuza, which should make for some interesting story developments in the future. I’m looking forward to the rest of this one.

Saturday

Work ahhhhhhhhhhhghhhhhhhhhhh

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

03/10/2024 – 03/16/2024

Sunday

Week 5 of missing Cipher Academy.

Monday

I was pretty excited for today’s episode of Game Changer, because the Sam Says episodes are usually some of the best and I love Lou, Jacob, and Vic…but unfortunately this one fell short of my expectations. The general vibe felt like they pushed slightly too far into the psychological torture range, and the players didn’t really put up a good fight so it was just beat down after beat down, coupled with really hard prompts that cost them tens of points at a time. And what was the purpose of the swear jar if those points didn’t end up going to anyone…just another kind of mean thing to tack onto their other commands… The episode ending with everyone losing a bunch of points and Jacob only winning by chance feels like such a far cry from the mind-boggling triumph that Ally ended the last Sam Says episode on. I don’t know, I think this game might be getting a little stale, and unless they can get players who can match Sam beat for beat, future episodes are just going to keep raising the stakes and making the players miserable, and I don’t really want to watch that.

Manga Monday time…Girl Meets Rock is fun. I genuinely forgot that Tamaki existed, but she works well as a stand-in. My points about the other possible guitar members still stand, though. Also fun to see Rin continuing her weird girl era.

Undead Unluck is great, it’s so gratifying to get these lore drops every chapter. And Top getting his super bombastic literally around the world finishing move is fantastic, and a great cap on this arc.

RuriDragon is okay…someone did a Twitter thread praising its translation, so now I overanalyze the dialogue whenever I read it…and it actually kind of annoys me. The writing strikes me as trying a little too hard to be young and modern, but the translator doesn’t actually know what young people talk like. The mom’s dialogue felt the most egregious to me – I get that she’s supposed to be like a millennial mom, but the way they wrote her dialogue feels so unnatural and stilted…it got to the point where it was actively hampering my enjoyment. But I don’t want to come across like a bad faith “all localization bad” Twitter guy…and I often have this same complaint with the dialogue of adult fiction novels, so it might just be me who’s the fringe weirdo who doesn’t know what normal people sound like. It was cute seeing Ruri and her mom hang out, though, I feel like we don’t get a lot of strong mother daughter relationships in anime or manga. But if I’m being honest…I do want the story to get some sort of direction soon…otherwise I think I might drop it.

I can’t believe they did the “only one bed” trope in Dandadan. I like the frog design sense of this world… Momo and Zuma are a cute duo, and the last scene was super sweet, but I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it because not only are Momo and Otarun obviously endgame, it’s kind of tiring that all three conventionally attractive guys in this friend group are interested in Momo (I mean the mecha otaku guy is also interested, but it’s played off as a joke because of course it is)… I can accept it with Jiji because the “childhood friend with whom you have a different sort of bond” thing was an interesting dynamic, especially as Jiji and Otarun became friends in their own right, but this is getting a little ridiculous… I need the non-Momo and non-Otarun members of this group to start being interested in each other!!! Give me some unexpected ship fodder!!! It’s ripe for fun teen drama, why are we concentrating all the guys on Momo and half the girls on Otarun when, by default, a bunch of those affections are going to end in failure?? Ugh.

Magilumiere whatever. Shigemoto and Sakura bonding was cute, but the rest of the chapter was just typical basic manga comedy stuff. Oh no this anime girl made some shockingly bad food, who could’ve guessed…

Chainsaw Man okay…I’ve been trying to ignore it, because being a mangaka is such a hazardous career and we’ve lost so many big names in recent years…but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the more detailed art style of Part 1. Finer linework aside, even the panel layouts of Part 1 felt more memorable and unique…it’s just a bit of a shame. I guess I just wish the whole industry was better, but there’d have to be so many changes for that to happen.

I can’t tell if I’m just having an off day where I find everything annoying, or if everything being slightly disappointing is making me have a bad day…agh.

Okay, at least the Undead Unluck episode was pretty good. The constant stops for attack name title cards were a little annoying for the fight’s momentum, but I get that they’re just trying to emulate the pop that those titles have in the manga. I appreciated some of the artsy direction, like Juiz shoving Remember in Victor’s head or the Andy/Fuuko kiss at the end…that panel was what got me to read the manga in the first place, so I have a soft spot for it. It’s also fun that this episode released around when the new manga chapter did, as we have these parallel discussions about soul and what they mean in the context of this world’s rules…it’s impressive that Tozuka really had things planned out to this extent.

Rewatched Succession season 3 episode 3 because I wanted to feel something (and watch something good to make up for the rest of today). This episode holds a special place in my heart for being the one where, when I watched it for the first time, I finally “got” the show. I had enjoyed season 1 and 2 a decent amount, but I kept waiting for bigger and more dramatic moments typical to a corporate drama, only to feel let down by the bathos and subtlety that Succession often likes to employ. But this episode was the one where everything finally clicked for me, and I understood the themes and tone that the show was trying to convey. The shifts of power between Kendall and Shiv are so subtle but gratifying to watch play out as this conflict intersects between the corporate and the personal and the familial – the Rape Me scene and the long Kendall walk down the hallway are both already all-timers, but the FBI raid at the end and Kendall watching it with the most ambiguous expression on his face is really just the cherry on top. As always, everything in Succession is firing on all cylinders at all times, but it’s done so masterfully that you don’t even notice it unless you’re actively thinking about it. It’s such a feast.

Tuesday

Against my better judgement, I’m watching Evilive, another Korean drama. I haven’t had good luck with K-dramas in the past (I’ve only watched two but they both pissed me off), and I’m sure this one is also rife with over the top ridiculous drama that’ll annoy me (oh boy this guy’s the EVILEST GUY and he’s gonna drag this other guy into his OHOHO EVIL SCHEMES for the ULTIMATE EVIL), but…goddammit the gifs of the big evil guy interacting with the older glasses guy were so intensely yaoiful that I had to see what this was about… They may not actually be gay, but I can enjoy the tension nonetheless.

So far it’s been okay. There were some eye-rolly moments, but I also enjoyed some of the more artful direction and shot composition.

Wednesday

Started watching Nisemonogatari because I needed something to pair with my dinner and it’s pretty fun so far. As ever, Monogatari’s set design feels so surreal but familiar, like they’re trying to capture the feeling of a location rather than its actual architecture. I think it’s fair to say that that’s my favourite part of the show so far. I only got through two episodes, and they’re a bit slow in terms of story, but I’m looking forward to learning more about Araragi’s little sisters.

Thursday

粉蒸肉 and DunMesh make a great pair, especially when today’s episode was as fantastic as I was hoping it’d be. It had an equal dose of everything – kinetic action, comedic moments, genuinely harrowing stakes, and a great hook for the ending. It was a given that the group’s well laid plans last episode would immediately go awry, but seeing each member of the group improvise and contribute their skills to the eventual victory is incredibly satisfying (as Laios says, they couldn’t have done it without everyone being there. Shoutout to Chilchuck for the knife throw that made me yell out loud when I read it for the first time). But Laios sacrificing his leg to get the kill is the highlight of the fight, and it really demonstrated his determination and love for Falin. I also love how they had to systematically cut through the dragon’s organs before finally finding Falin’s bones – DunMesh’s down to earth approach to the cycle of life and death and consumption makes their task feel all the more insurmountable and real. I really can’t wait to see this arc conclude next episode. (Also Marcille’s magic runes had sound effects that reminded me of Cardcaptor Sakura, and I liked that.)

Friday

I’m happy to see that Undead Unluck is continuing its strong episode streak, especially when Anno Un is one of my favourite characters and his backstory is so uniquely painful and heartwrenching…his family just being him and his mom drives the tragedy home even more when he seemingly disappears… But Anno finding meaning in his art is so important to me personally, and I feel like Tozuka really poured his heart out through this character. The other highlight of the episode was BUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!! BABY GIRL AGOO BNUUY!!!!!!!!!!! SHE’S SOOOOOOOOO CUTE AND BABY AHHHHHHHHH She’s reading manga!!!! NOOO SHE’S GETTING SLAPPING AND TOSSED AROUND AND HER LITTLE “WEH” AND THE WAY SHE’S SO SQUISHY AND ROUND AHHHHHHHHHH This was such a good episode. AND THE PREVIEW WITHOUT ANY NARRATION WAS SO CHILLING AND THEMATICALLY APPROPRIATE BECAUSE NOW ANNO DOESN’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Also wow Sean really got sliced in half huh. RIP, you’ll do better next time.

Saturday

Went outside for once, so there’s nothing for today.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

03/02/2024 – 03/09/2024

Sunday

Week 4 of missing Cipher Academy.

So they’ve gone the realistic route with Girl Meets Rock, huh? I can dig it – as a female tenor I can relate to Hatocchi having a more unique voice. I imagine they’ll grab guitar guy to complete their band, which would be interesting because I’ve never really seen a co-ed band for this kind of story. There’s also the possibility that guitar guy will dump the girl he’s currently dating and she’ll quit his band and join this one as some way of getting revenge on him, but I don’t remember what instrument she plays so who knows. Her design was just too distinct to not take note of.

Undead Unluck is peak as always, and I’m excited to see what new developments can come out of this revelation. It’s cute that Top’s new outfit looks so tokusatsu.

It’s so wonderful to see RuriDragon return. Like everyone else, I was compelled by its down-to-earth writing and lovely dimensional inking, so I’ve been patiently waiting for its return for almost two years now. I’m glad to hear that the mangaka is doing better, and that Jump is giving them the space to do things at their own pace. Story-wise, it still feels like we’re just building up to something, so I don’t have much to say yet.

It’s kind of hilarious watching everyone freak out over Oshi no Ko. Personally, I really don’t think they’ll go there, as Oshi no Ko has the tendency to pull its punches when it counts (having Ruby and Kana resolve their fight almost right away, having the guy taking Kana to his apartment be an actually decent person, undercutting most serious moments with a comedic turn, etc), but it’d be funny and interesting if it does.

Dandadan 142: God I love Mai’s stupid big head turtle design so much, and seeing her fight with Turbo Granny is hilarious.

Magilumiere fine.

Chainsaw Man pretty crazy.

One Piece also getting pretty crazy. It’s nice seeing some old friends again, and Luffy’s Looney Tunes antics are fun. I really hope nothing stops Vegapunk’s message, but I wouldn’t put it past Oda to give us something tantalizing before cutting it off prematurely.

Awww it’s so cute to get a prom chapter from SpyFam. I love seeing everyone in formal wear, and it seems we’re about to get some more Damian/Anya development, which I’m always excited for. Also nice to see that Anya does have other boys interested in her as well.

I did some more reading today, and watched Aqours’ Dreamy Concert as I did so. It was pretty cute but nothing special, just them going through the group number hits. There was a funny moment with Aikyan and Rikako in there, though.

Monday

I read Briar’s Book by Tamora Pierce this morning, and was crying by the end of it. The Circle of Magic series is hands down one of my favourite book series of all time, ever since I first picked it up from my local library as a kid. I love the world and its characters with my entire heart, and it’s been such a balm for the soul to revisit the books over the past year. I’d put off reading Briar’s Book, as it was the last in the quartet where the four kids are still together and I couldn’t bear that time coming to an end, but I’ve been craving something good to read so I finally pulled it off my shelf. Even as a kid this was my favourite book, as it featured my favourite character and the interesting challenge of an epidemic (not so interesting now, due to recent years…parts of the books definitely gave me flashbacks). But I loved reading about how Emelan deals with the crisis, especially in the latter half where Briar and Tris work under Crane (it was so cathartic to see Crane begrudgingly admit their usefulness). And the final scene showcasing the strength of the love between the kids and their mentors was the one that made me cry. There’s just so much warmth and love woven into the very foundations of this book series, and I love love love it. The only downside was how the kids were mostly off doing their own thing in this book – I was hoping for some more cute found family scenes of them all together before they go off on their own adventures in the next books, but I guess seeing them on the roof together one last time was enough.

In another “finally finishing the last instalment of a series” moment, I’ve finished watching Kizumonogatari: Reiketsu. It was pretty good – the fight was fantastic and super kinetic, of course, but I also liked Hanekawa trying to pull Araragi back from the brink and Araragi interrogating his own naivety and contradictions. There’s also something there about how relationships form out of hurting one another, and Kiss-shot’s motivations feel complex and understandable. After everything they’ve gone through together, it’s really hard not to ship Araragi and Hanekawa, but I’m also looking forward to seeing Senjougahara and the others again now that I can continue with the anime series. I hate that Kizumonogatari is split up into three parts because giving each part its own rating feels like splitting hairs (which I’ll have to do for Letterboxd…sigh) but as a whole I’d say I’d give Kizumonogatari a 7/10.

Tuesday

Today’s reading is The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley, yet another series from my childhood that I’m revisiting. It has a strong premise – it’s inherently fun to see familiar fairy tale characters in a modern context, and I think the central conflict that the Everafters have with the Grimms is something that is rife for drama and story. The three main kids all have strong personalities that work well off of each other, and I love how Peter Ferguson’s illustrations evoke that classic fairy tale style while also making everyone look slightly unhinged. This first book’s central mystery was simple but effective, with some twists in there to keep things from being too straightforward. I feel like the action scenes needed some work, though, as well as some of the dialogue (“I did that. And then this. Do you understand? So there.”), but it was a decent read. Not as good as something like The Mysterious Benedict Society, but not as rough as The Century Series either.

I watched Aqours’ 6th Live as I read, and watching it so soon after the Dreamy Concert really hammered home how they kind of stopped dropping new singles for the group (until Genjitsu no Yohane…but we’ll get there when we get there). I don’t know, I like their music, but did we really need to hear Koi ni Naritai Aquarium for the fiftieth time… I didn’t expect them to pull out the winter duo trio songs again, though, I’ll give them that. Misty Frosty Love makes me emotional every time…the way that their gazes never line up…the lyrics hinting at a bittersweet regret and inability to be honest with one’s feelings…the YouRiko of it all… At least we got some solo songs for the other legs of this tour, and Aqours Pirates Desire is always hype (the way Shuka looks in that outfit and with that flag…), but man Aqours needs some new songs (and more subunits songs please). OH MY GOD COTTON CANDY EI  EI OH IS SO SDJFKSLDFJKLDSF I love Dia being the doting older sister/manager/back-up dancer in the background, that’s so cute and funny.

Wednesday

Ah

Thursday

Made instant ramen again for DunMesh Thursday, but only because there’s literally nothing left in the house (we’ll go grocery shopping tomorrow). I did add an egg though, because I realized that if I just crack it in and not stir the pot at all, the broth won’t get gloopy. The episode was pretty solid, with another cool moment for my boy Chilchuck, and it was fun to eat ramen while the gang ate pasta. After that was mostly set-up for the upcoming fight, but I like how it feels like a DND party preparing for a boss battle. Kui’s love for Western RPGs is so palpable in this series (unlike the slew of isekai operating on their vague ideas of fantasy, which boil down to “European town with monsters”). It looks like next episode will be the fight, and then episode 12 will be the aftermath, and I appreciate that they’ve lined things up so that the first half of the cour can actually have a climax and denouement.

Finished the last leg of Aqours’ 6th live tour today, and I wasn’t all that enthused. The solo songs were definitely the highlights: MOTTO-ZUTTO be with you was genuinely beautiful, Paradise Chime was so cute and fun (Shuka’s charisma is unmatched), and Meimei Tantei Yohane was INSAAAAAAAAAAAANE AIKYAN IS SOOOOO GOOD it was a good choice for her to become a center for Genjitsu no Yohane…her ability to go from typical anime girl sopranos to a deep dark alto is genuinely insane, she’s such an amazing performer.

Friday

What an absolutely nothing episode of Drag Race. None of the verses were particularly good to me, the Mhi’ya and Morphine beef just feels off-putting to watch, and I couldn’t make myself care about the lead up to the performance. And then the cherry on top was Plane Jane giving her potion to Nymphia in a move that feels like she’s just trying to buy likeability from the audience, only for it to literally not even matter??? At least the stupid chocolate twist had an actual pay-off at the end – in this season, both potions literally ended up being utterly inconsequential. This was such a weird bad episode, and the preview of next week’s challenge doesn’t give me much hope either.

Saturday

Didn’t do much today, but I want to give a shoutout to harmoe announcing their second album because it makes me so excited that I want to explode.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

02/25/2024 – 03/02/2024

Sunday

Week 3 of missing Cipher Academy.

Girl Meets Rock is getting really good…I love Rin’s Machiavellian schemes and the tense dynamic between her and Momo, who’s rightfully mad at being used as a pawn. And even though the story seems to be moving towards a Bocchi-like “we have some obstacles in our way but we’ll overcome them and be a professional-level band” story, we did get like five falling-outs and disbandments, which satisfies my need to see an accurate depiction of how high school music groups almost inevitably fall apart (I may or may not have vaguely bitter memories of certain independent high school choir groups…but I digress). Now I’m just waiting to see if they’re going to play Hato’s singing straight or have her be really bad but suited for metal screaming or something.

Undead Unluck had an amazing lore drop, but I definitely needed the comments and Twitter to jog my memory as to its importance. The fight continues to be dynamic, and I love the new designs. Reading UU is such a treat, as it’s just strength after strength.

Oshi no Ko is…I get that it’s a serious subject, but it feels like the characters are just lecturing me about things I already knew lol. And the comedic turn to keep things light didn’t go over as well in this chapter, I feel, since the earlier speech had such a feeling of “reality” to it. And then the ending….lmao…well, let’s see where they go with this. I doubt they’ll actually go through with it, but it seems difficult to deter Ruby now that she knows.

Dandadan is more of the same, but at least the creature design was unique and I liked seeing Momo and Zuma use their game abilities in creative ways. Feels truly video game-like.

Noooo Shigemoto reverted to his old outfit in Magilumiere…everything feels a touch too “back to the status quo”, complete with the exact same office and character dynamics… I just wish there was something more to mark everyone’s growth (Sakuragi has her pixie cut, but everyone else is practically identical). And if I don’t get to see Shigemoto in a frilly bathing suit, then what’s the point of a beach arc.

One Piece…I’m guessing Vegapunk programmed this message to release upon his death, and I can’t wait to see what sort of ramifications it’ll have. Seeing Luffy take on Saturn and Kizaru at once is also extremely cathartic, though I wonder if it’ll feel too OP for him to defeat them both by himself.

Okay…so…for a while now, I’ve been wanting to get into otome games. I love choosing a character to romance in farming sims, so wouldn’t it be fun to play a full-fledged game where I can pursue a deep romance with a hot anime character?

It turns out that I might not be suited for dating sims at all. I’ve tried Western ones and Japanese ones and I just can’t seem to get past the inherent artifice of it all. At least in farming sims, I can just consider the dating stuff a bonus on top of the min-maxing gameplay I get to do. But I have yet to play a dating sim that has made me feel truly emotionally attached to any of its characters – I just see past the characters and to the tropes and writing conventions they follow, and their attempts to charm me ring hollow. My own personal views on love are already pretty skewed, so none of the characters I’ve seen have ever really sufficiently woo’d me. It’s honestly a little depressing…

But anyway, I finished playing Cupid Parasite. After a lot of looking around the otome game space, I decided to try this one as my first real otoge – I liked the aesthetic, the art, the design of the main character, and the premise of being a matchmaker interested me (I thought there’d be gameplay related to this…but I guess I shouldn’t’ve expected that from a cut and dry otoge). I started playing it months ago, and I decided to pursue Shelby, as I like the “workaholic executive allergic to feelings” type of character. Now, having finished a playthrough and read some reviews, it appears that Shelby’s route is generally regarded as the weakest in the entire game………………….

But even before that, the beginning of the game was so boring and wordy, as it took forever to set up the Parasite 5 gimmick, and the story progression just felt incredibly slow and frustrating. I was hoping to at least get a few choices or any say in how things turn out (you know, gameplay?), but I think I had like five choices in my entire route. (And I know visual novels/kinetic novels aren’t necessarily beholden to giving the player gameplay moments, but I feel like dating sims should…I don’t know, give me something to work with, otherwise the romance just feels entirely unearned and like I’m just reading a romance novel between some random guy and a girl who isn’t me, even if she has my name. I don’t read a lot of romance books for a reason.) It felt like I was just going through an endless and unchanging cycle – Cupid Corp would set up some sort of weird activity to try and get the Parasite 5 interested in marriage, Gill starts simping for the main character, green guy says something about fashion and is rude to girls, purple guy tries to be a homewrecker, Raul starts talking about his weird interests, rinse and repeat for like five scenes straight with zero extra insight into these characters (because you’ll get that in their individual routes, I guess, but would it have killed them to show me a Little bit more of their personalities beyond their gimmicks so that I could possibly be enticed to trying their routes??).

Sorry for wanting gameplay in a visual novel, but I think it could’ve been a lot more fun if we had the option to match the Parasite 5 up with other characters…it would fit the theme, give them happy endings, and give the player at least some semblance of challenge as they try to romance their mark while dodging the advances of the other bachelors. I genuinely thought the matchmaker concept would come up in gameplay somehow, but I was really disappointed to find that it was all set dressing. The writing as a whole is evidently very campy and anime-like, but it wasn’t endearing to me at all. It was actually so annoying that I stopped playing the game for like half a year, and just picked it up today to finish so that I could move on with my life. (I understand that the point of dating sims is to replay it and do each route and complete the game 100% to get your money’s worth and understand the full story, but I like to play romance routes as if it were real life and I have to make a real choice. Besides that, I dislike CupiPara’s writing so much that I’d never want to replay it anyway.)

To move onto the specifics of Shelby’s route, it seems like it was the most tropey and trite one of the whole bunch. Because Shelby is so out of touch with his feelings and incapable of pursuing romance himself, the plot has to twist itself into pretzels to contrive scenarios that force him and the protagonist together in order for romance to potentially spark. Fake dating was fun for a bit, but the company sabotage stuff was boring as hell and ended in the most anti-climactic way imaginable (a dash of godly powers here, an extremely obvious betrayal there, and a bit of slapstick Roomba romance “humor” for good measure). It was funny watching them try to justify how the betrayer’s brainwashing wasn’t just a cheap way of creating a blameless villain, and that they had those feelings in the first place anyway, but in the end it had the same effect of giving me a hollow and meaningless victory.

I also can’t really take the romance scenes seriously…that drunk kiss was so out of nowhere that it skeeved me out, and the eventual sex scene just felt awkward to me, because I always imagine the seiyuu in the booth having to say these lines, and any intimacy the scene may have had just goes out the window (I might’ve felt differently if I cared about any of the bachelors’ seiyuu, but I don’t).

As a whole, this game frustrated me to no end, and I’m seriously considering that otome games may just not be for me. I have one other game that I think I might be interested in, but if that one also flops then I’ll probably write off the genre forever. I’m giving this game a 2/10, and mostly because I was pleasantly surprised by a Shu Uchida English cameo.

Monday

Whoops

Tuesday

Finally got around to watching Great Pretender: Razbliuto, but I just feel utterly bewildered by it. I’m happy to return to the world of Great Pretender and its truly international lenses and broad-mindedness, but this instalment felt a little lacking. I’m glad that Dorothy wasn’t fridged, but being an amnesiac with no agency over her own story or safety isn’t much better. Jay is a fun addition, but mainly because he’s hot and voiced by Shunsuke Takeuchi. The rest was just…I was waiting for the minutes-long explanation sequence that we usually got at the end of Great Pretender cases, but here they’re just like “oh yeah everyone was in on it so it worked perfectly” and it just feels so unsatisfying and confusing. The constant backstabbings and surprise collaborations were impossible to keep track of, and I end the movie with feeling like I don’t know what anyone was actually doing or thinking, aside from the overarching idea of Laurent pulling strings to save Dorothy from being pursued. But I don’t know, the best part of heist/conman/mystery stories in general is getting to see the solution, and we just didn’t get that here. As always, I love the art and music direction, I appreciate the multicultural representation, the circular jokes and callbacks were fun, and I like that Dorothy and Laurent seemingly mutually move on from each other at the end, but as a whole the movie was kind of a flop. 6/10.

Wednesday

I worked my way through Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin this morning – while the gory writing and world building did effectively plunge me into this world, story-wise I was left wondering what the point of it all was. The premise is so unique and interesting, and I enjoyed reading about how different people with different circumstances were adapting to the apocalypse (it’s really refreshing to get trans perspectives on a genre that’s so focused on survival and the limits of the body), but the characters themselves didn’t really grab me. As with most adult fiction, I just could never buy into the way the characters talked – even all the swearing and horny talk couldn’t really convince me. And even when there were bits of character writing that I found compelling, the lack of a strong drive in the overall narrative made the book feel like a lot of monologuing without much meaning. It felt like I was waiting for something to happen for most of the book, and by the time something finally did, I didn’t care enough about the characters to feel invested in the climax.

Afterwards, I tried reading The Spiderwick Chronicles (I got the big, 600-ish page complete edition of the series from the library), but it didn’t go so well. I remember Spiderwick being fairly culturally relevant when I was a kid – it had a movie, and I constantly saw the books at my library, but for some reason I never got into it despite loving creature compendiums and cryptozoology when I was young. Now, having read through the first book (only 90 something pages, and a quarter of them illustrations…), I see that my tastes are still mostly the same, just more refined. Spiderwick’s writing is just so boring – things happen one after the other without any sort of flourish or sense of how to craft an interesting narrative. It feels like I’m reading through bullet points of plot milestones instead of getting invested in an actual story. There’s just no character to the writing at all. Needless to say I won’t be continuing with this series.

I watched the latest Game Changer episode with my friend, and it was a decently funny and surprisingly straightforward game. My friend and I even tried out some of the questions ourselves, though only about three of them actually applied to us.

While I was doing all this reading, I watched Liella’s 1st Live Tour, Starlines. Gen 1 Liella is my favourite incarnation of the group, so seeing them perform as five was really moving and nostalgic. All five of them have such strong beautiful voices, and the moments where they got to harmonize a cappella or had solo lines were absolutely gorgeous. I love that they structured the setlist to follow the timeline of the anime’s first season – seeing the girls step out in their costumes after seeing them in anime form on screen felt like I was witnessing the true emotive power of 2.5 media. AND THE AUDIENCE DOING THE LIGHTSTICKS THING FOR TINY STARS ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I did cry at Tiny Stars because it’s my favourite Liella song ever and I love Keke and KuKa and ahhhrhghgyudhj But then Tokonatsu Sunshine was so fun and Nako’s high note was such a slay, then Matataki was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard in my life, then Non-Fiction was so jfshgywueuhfsj and Starlight Prologue aahdjfk I love Gen 1 Liella so so so so much…

Afterwards, I read Cookie by Jacqueline Wilson in one sitting. Playing A Walk in the Sun a few months ago and reading the creator’s notes about Jacqueline Wilson reminded me that I enjoyed quite a few of her books as a kid (I was drawn to her writing about imperfect and non-nuclear families), so I decided to go back and see if I still liked her work. I hadn’t read Cookie before (that I can remember, anyway), but it seemed like a pretty slam dunk premise for the type of story that Wilson usually writes. It was a cute read, but I didn’t expect it to be so…Chicken Soup for the Soul-esque? Everything just felt a bit heightened beyond reality and like it was crafted in a lab with a formula specialized to create the perfect little soap opera, when I’d remembered Wilson’s writing as being slightly more down to earth and nuanced. At some points it did feel a touch on the nose with how miserable Beauty’s life was, and then the ending wrapping everything up in the biggest, shiniest, most perfect bow in world in only two chapters also felt a little ridiculous, but I guess Beauty deserved it after all her hardship. This book was probably aimed at a younger crowd, so I’ll pick up something more teenage from Wilson next time and see how I like it. (Small pet peeve, but the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter basically spoiling what happens next were a little annoying…) (The book also mentioned The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which reminded me that I owned it, so I might reread it sometime in the near future.)

Thursday

I’m feeling pretty good about DunMesh Thursday this week, because I’ve made a chicken wrap thing with assorted salad vegetables and an onion and poppy seed dressing that I’ve been trying out and greatly enjoying. The episode was also fun, it neatly gave Namari a proper introduction and fleshed out the characters’ world a little more, and here again we have the staple scene of people being brought together by food. The themes of ecosystem and co-existence and community are so refreshing to see in an anime.

Friday

This morning I read through Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto, an interesting memoir from a guy who I’ve seen go viral on Twitter a few times. It was interesting to read about the unique experiences he’s had through the implementation of this service, and his thoughts on the role of humans in a work-focused society and how humans form relationships with each other were a little thought-provoking, but other than that the book was just a light read.

It’s Drag Race day once again, and I’m both excited and nervous to see yet another sewing challenge – Nymphia excels at it, sure, but I can never be sure if they’re setting her up to fail or not. I said before that sewing challenges are fun because I like seeing the girls interacting and having banter as they work, but this one just felt a bit tense…a lot of people are annoyed at Nymphia, Dawn and Q are gunning for the win, Morphine and Plasma are trying to get by while Plane Jane picks at Plasma, and Mhi’ya and Sapphira have their whole thing going on that also annoys everyone else…it’s just bad vibes. Mhi’ya certainly seems to have come out of her shell in the competition, but I don’t know if I quite like the cocky shittalking girl who’s emerged. It just feels a little silly to be talking down on the other girls when her only strong suit is fighting her way out of the bottom week after week. Runway-wise, there wasn’t anything that really blew me away. Morphine’s makeup was pretty incredible but the dress was just okay, Nymphia’s was gorgeous but you couldn’t even really see what it was, and Q’s jacket was amazing but I hated the styling so much (the painted face but normal body looked so bad, as did the netting and the big blocky black panty – if you’re going for a Victorian doll look, at least commit and paint the whole body/cover up more skin to sell the energy). I was sad to see Plasma go (she really grew on me over the season), but her look being the way that it was and her opponent being Mhi’ya pretty much sealed the deal before the lip-sync even began. I think Plasma’s a phenomenal and confident performer, but her taste level and eye for fashion need some serious work. I could see her as a great competitor on All Stars, but for now we’ll have to bid adieu.

Saturday

The new Undead Unluck episode is so good…we’ve finally returned to that strong sense of atmosphere that I’ve been missing since like episode four. The direction was fantastic, with the scene in the bar being a highlight (the hanging lightbulb swinging and casting its light over them…god…). The sudden mood shift really emphasized the tragic nature of Andy’s existence – it will always be filled with farewells. Fuuko being a constant throughout those months must have been some sort of comfort to him, and seeing them get closer (and seeing a quieter and more vulnerable Andy) really lent credence to their blossoming romance. I hope the next few episodes are also of this quality.

I finished reading The Devil’s Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo today, and it was pretty gripping from start to finish. I’d read The Honjin Murders before, and I’ve developed a tradition of reading classic Japanese mysteries while listening to select tracks from the excellent and moody Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu soundtrack (its instrumentation and air of bittersweet regret make for the perfect atmosphere). The Devil’s Flute Murders opened quite strongly, and it was easy to get drawn into this family and its twisted characters as Kindaichi tries to figure out what happened. Yokomizo seems to like operating on dread, often referencing things that are about to happen before they actually do – I dislike this slightly, as I like to be surprised rather than strung along, but it didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the book too much. This mystery was one where I had an inkling of the truth throughout, and I managed to deduce who the culprit was before the end, which was pretty satisfying. And while the actual events ended up being more slapdash and coincidental than they were set up to be, I was glad that it wasn’t as complicated as The Honjin Murders because I can never really get the geography straight in my head. The Devil’s Flute Murders offered compelling character relationships and tantalizing imagery (the flute…fantastic reveal), and for that I can safely say it’s my favourite Kindaichi mystery so far.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

02/18/2024 – 02/24/2024

Sunday

Week 2 of missing Cipher Academy. Yes I’m going to do this for at least a year.

Girl Meets Rock is fine.

Undead Unluck is pretty good, it’ll be interesting to see how the group gets out of this one. Loved the parallel between the Gods searching for the Greatest Life while Fuuko and Andy search for the Greatest Death.

Oshi no Ko is fairly intense, but I appreciate the creators still including comedic moments; I guess they don’t want the story to get too harrowing. But Hikaru and his relationship with Ai is really fascinating, as the two of them bond over being perpetual actors/liars in order to hide their pain.

Dandadan fine. At least Momo and Zuma have a fun dynamic.

I guess Chainsaw Man’s been demoted to Manga Sundays rather than Tuesdays when it comes out, as I don’t really get spoilers for it anymore. It does feel a bit hard to see where Part 2 is going after Part 1 was just strength after strength, but I’ll still keep the faith.

One Piece good. As always, I feel like I don’t know enough to be able to say much about it.

Finally watched the second Kizumonogatari movie, Nekketsu. I loved the distinct Monogatari atmosphere, the action scenes were beautiful and fluid and odd, and lowkey this movie series has me kind of shipping Araragi and Hanekawa… I know Senjougahara’s his true love and all, but the vibe of two people sharing a unique experience is unmatched. Also that wheat field where they talked was absolutely gorgeous and extremely up my alley.

A new chapter of Yuria-sensei! It’s fun that she and Riku once shared a hobby, and it hammers home just how much Goro had a type lol

I’ve fallen off of reading non-Shounen Jump manga extremely hard, and I can’t pretend that some part of that isn’t because of this Week in Review thing lol It’s just a bit boring when I read a single chapter and have no thoughts on it but I have to log it here anyway, so I’ve been putting off reading a lot of series I follow. But also, it’s true that I feel like when I binge-read a manga, get caught up, and then have to survive off infrequent releases, everything I read just gets deleted from my memory and I spend the next few months confused with every new chapter – I want to strive to wait until a manga’s finished before reading it now, unless it’s something I know I would really like.

With that out of the way, Shiroyama to Mita-san ended recently, so it’s time for me to catch back up with this endearingly strange couple. As a whole, it’s fairly one-note, with the same dry sense of humor throughout all of its gags, but the premise itself is engaging enough on its own and there’s moments of sincerity scattered throughout that keep it a fun read.

Monday

Ah

Tuesday

Oh no

Wednesday

Okay I had some errands to run today and then I just passed out

Thursday

Okay!!! This week was a bit of a crapshoot but I’ll never miss DunMesh Thursdays. Today’s meal was (instant) ramen, and I wish I had some shrimp or fish tofu to put in it, but we used all of those for the fried rice the other day (and I don’t like eggs in ramen…I don’t like how it makes the broth all gloopy). We get a cute flashback scene to the origin of Falin and Marcille’s friendship, and a further examination of the themes of the show – that being the delicate balance that all ecosystems must maintain in order to thrive, and the folly of humans who try to enact their own visions on it without understanding its structure or how they themselves fit into it. The fight afterwards was also fun and dynamic, with a cute gag to end off the episode.

Also read the latest chapter of Takatora-kun, but there’s not much for me to say about it. I’m interested in this new adult character who looks just like Takatora but with glasses, but I’m more curious about the pharmaceutical advancements that he seems to hint at.

Friday

Busy again today…couldn’t even watch Drag Race before passing out in bed lol

Saturday

Alright, it’s Drag Race time, but I’ve been kind of dreading it since I heard that Nymphia doesn’t do well and Snatch Game is such an all-or-nothing sort of challenge to watch anyway (in the sense that on the rare occasions where there’s a genuinely stand-out performance, it’s a blast to watch, but usually it’s middling at best and absolutely agonizing). The reading challenge at the top of the episode didn’t bolster my confidence too much, and I had to skip the Snatch Game entirely because the second-hand embarrassment made me want to die. Once again, I don’t give a shit about Plane Jane’s storyline this season, but they’re definitely pushing her as a frontrunner and finalist so we’re going to have to contend with her for a while yet. (Currently, my prediction is that the final four will be Nymphia, Sapphira, Plasma, and Plane Jane.) The runway was super cute, though – I loved how everyone had a different approach, and the theme lent itself to interesting runway walks and a lot of fun interactions with the judges. Sapphira and Nymphia were the highlights for me, but it was fun seeing Plasma weaponize her BFA again. I’ve never been happier to see the judges’ favouritism allowing Nymphia to be safe, and I think it lent itself to a bittersweet and meaningful lip sync. Xunami and Morphine dancing together and singing to each other really embodied the song and heightened the emotions.

Undead Unluck…I’ve been nervously anticipating this arc because I love Anno Un, and I’m happy to report that his voice actor does not disappoint. Yumi Uchiyama really handily plays off both his cuteness and his coolness, and sets him apart as the enigmatic character that he is. The cold open had some great animation, with Sean’s bloodied silhouette and eye being a particular highlight. I hope this is a sign of better animation to come when the Autumn fight actually starts in earnest, and that this will be the last episode where they have to cut corners as the cour reaches its end. But before that, CANADA MENTION!!!!!!!!! This absolutely blew my mind when I first read it, and it’s so special to see it in animation – I love that they got the seawall and the weird seahorse head looking shape of the peninsula, and the poutine was so cute. I love how Anno unsettles Andy and Fuuko, and his G-Liner ability is cool to see animated…but of course, the elephant in the room is the CG again. And once again, I can’t really fault them, and they did hand draw the spiders when they got executed by the guillotine, but I wish they could’ve done something more to integrate the models into the look of the show better. But again, I have my fingers crossed that the finale run will be more stable. The main Autumn UMA is done well so far, with that light bit of body horror with the poor guy’s head and the mechanical movements of Autumn’s eyes. And then Anno and Juiz’s conversation had a fun terseness to it, as two characters who know more about the world than most other characters but with opposing philosophies and approaches. I wish they didn’t have that long flashback scene in the middle of the episode, because the episode could’ve ended with Fuuko diving into Andy’s past and been stronger for it, I think. But regardless, I’m once again nervously anticipating the next Undead Unluck episode.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

02/11/2024 – 02/17/2024

Sunday

The first Manga Sunday without Cipher Academy…maybe I should just walk into the ocean…

Girl Meets Rock continues to be surprisingly good with its realistic and down to earth writing on teenage emotions.

Undead Unluck is gearing up for another big fight, and I’m glad that Top is fully invested now.

Oshi no Ko is…it’s certainly strange for them to cast two siblings as a couple, no matter the circumstances… If this movie was released in our real world, the impact it’d have on the Japanese entertainment industry would be staggering, so I can certainly feel its weight.

Magilumiere was fine, I like Shigemoto’s new more goth lolita look, and I hope he keeps it going forward.

I watched the latest episode of Undead Unluck, and it was pretty okay. I saw people doomposting about the amount of recap, but I thought they were used artistically enough that it was passable, plus it did help to jog the audience’s memory since the show always has a lot of stuff going on. The last few recaps about Billy were truly egregious, though, but I guess they needed something to stretch out the episode and time the cliffhanger at the end. The scene where Juiz mentions Andy’s mole was glorious, and in general I liked the atmosphere of the episode. They managed to keep things engaging even when it was literally just twenty minutes of Juiz explaining the lore. The next arc is going to be pretty exciting…

I tried reading Whalefall by Daniel Kraus, but the writing was so painfully on the nose that it made me cringe, and I hate long introspective narratives anyway, so I dropped it.

After literal months, I finally picked Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes back up and sped through the rest of it in one sitting. I was a little hesitant about van Draanen featuring Mexican gang culture in one of her mystery stories for children, but thankfully it didn’t come across as too stereotypical – I think van Draanen is good about seeing the complexities in the issues that kids and teens face (including non-white ones), and she doesn��t tend to flatten or moralize too much. Sammy’s life is just as chaotic as ever, with the stakes rising with each book, and it can really reduce me to a ball of stress, but this instalment kept the action moving quickly enough that things were okay soon enough. We get another scene of cathartic karmic justice for Heather’s shenanigans, and this time even the teachers have to eat crow, so that was fun. And I like that Officer Borsch is finally seeing for Sammy for who she really is, and the tension in their relationship that comes from the secrets that Sammy has to keep. Sammy has so many complex relationships, and that makes reading about her world so engaging.

Monday

Finally watched the season 4 finale of Downton Abbey, and it was a bit of a slog for me. I get that the writers want to expand the world and add more characters, but I really don’t care about any of them, especially when they start having subplots with each other and not with the main cast. I hate the Mary love triangle thing (the two men are literally indistinguishable to me), I hate the Tom possible new romances thing, I hate everything to do with Rose, etc etc. I do find it funny to see how surly and world weary Daisy has become, and at least we ended the season off with a beautiful Carson/Hughes moment.

Tuesday

Oh, finally some action in Downton Abbey. I’m glad to see Jimmy gone, he was annoying. And I like the weird little tentative friendship that Anna and Thomas have. Edith’s storyline with her daughter is the most interesting thing in the show right now, but again I lament how she always gets the short end of the stick in life.

Wednesday

I watched the new Game Changer season premiere with my friend, and it was pretty okay. I like that the rules of the game make for some interesting strategies, and I liked all the game show parodies they did, but other than that it didn’t particularly stand out to me.

Also caught up on Dirty Laundry while I was at it, but again nothing in the episode really left a lasting impression.

Thursday

Finished catching up with Dirty Laundry this morning, and I found this episode to be a lot more fun. Paul’s story was a particular highlight for me.

For this week’s DunMesh Thursday I’ve made 粉蒸肉, and thankfully it’s turned out perfectly. Unfortunately, the episode itself wasn’t much on food porn lol my timing’s always off… But it was such a fun and funny episode – Kabru’s party wiping out again, Laois’ singing annoying the sirens away (Kentarou Kumagai I always knew your vocals were slay), Laois not recognizing Kabru but recognizing the Kobold right away, Chilchuck chastising Laois multiple times, Senshi learning that magic isn’t all that bad, Laios getting a parasite…he’s such a freak and I love that.

Barrelled through Downton season 5 today, and I’m happy to say that I’m finally enjoying it again. Mary’s horribly boring love triangle plot is finally over, Edith can spend time with her daughter without too much stress hanging over her, I like the weird friendship Tom’s built with the sisters, Thomas has been humbled into helpfulness somewhat (it’s so funny how the Crawleys employ his craftiness at the sight of a common enemy), I like Moseley and Baxter’s romance, the Denker and Spratt rivalry is so stupid and funny because of their equally massive hater energies, and I’m loving that Isobel and Violet are actually friends now, and get romantic plotlines of their own. And of course, the Carson/Hughes proposal!!!!! It was perfectly awkward and sweet and the best thing to end off the season. It feels like I’m back at the beginning of the show again, where I know who everyone is and I care about their storylines because they’re actually interesting. Anna and Bates are the only ones where I feel the story kind of drags – it’s a little insane that they’re doing the imprisonment plot again but with the other party this time, but at least it doesn’t drag out for as long.

Friday

Undead Unluck…I remember the Anno Un arc making me cry in the manga, so I’m preparing myself for the weeks ahead. This episode was super cute, lots of meta and referential humor that’s fun for anyone who’s into manga history, and also lots of fun character gags and parodies going on. As a…well, I draw comics too, so I greatly feel Tozuka’s pain, and I imagine that this plot element was a cathartic one to write (if only I also had six extra arms to do things for me…). They gave us a little glimpse this week, but next week we finally get to see anime Canada so that’ll be super fun for me.

Wow, this was a surprisingly good episode of Drag Race. I think this is one of the best Rusicals they’ve ever had – I liked most of the songs, the choreo was fun and varied, the characters were distinct, and there were honestly no real weak links in the cast (they really had to nitpick to choose the bottom three). It was fantastic to see Plasma and Sapphira in their elements and absolutely knocking their parts out of the park, and I’m glad to see another win for Plasma (finally some justice for the endearingly annoying white musical theater gays). And then the runway was also amazing, Plasma, Sapphira, and Q were the clear and deserved tops, but I also liked Nymphia’s cactus dress and Xunami’s bouquet dress.

Watched through the beginning of Downton’s last season and it’s really fun. I love that Edith is becoming an independent career woman who’s learning how to run her own business, and she’s finally getting a love interest who’s just a normal guy and not twice her age or married to an institutionalized woman or an imposter of a childhood crush (literally what the fuck was up with that plotline. It showed up for a single episode and seemed to just be there to fuck with Edith for the millionth time). Daisy’s fickleness is annoying me a bit – you’d think after six seasons she would’ve matured a little bit, but she’s just as beholden by her whims as ever. Hughes and Carson’s wedding was so sweet and cute, and it’s hilarious that Branson shows up again like he didn’t spend just three short episodes in Boston before swiftly changing his mind.

Saturday

I’ve finished Downton Abbey…well, the show, at least. And I think I can say that it has a pretty perfect finale. This whole season was great, with a lot of dramatic storylines that I felt invested in but also some more comedic ones that kept the tone light (Denker and Spratt come to mind). I love that Edith gets to have her wedding be the finale of the series, and the way that it brings together everyone on the show makes her feel truly loved for once. After six seasons of misery, it’s wonderful to see her finally happy. Some other highlights from the season were Edith calling Mary a bitch, which was extremely deserved. Since the beginning, Mary’s constant putdowns of Edith never sat right with me (no matter how clever her insults were) so it’s extremely cathartic to see Edith stand up for herself for once. And then I loved seeing Lady Grantham as a mom, sending her son a new puppy when they’ve had a fight. Carson didn’t start the season off in a very favourable light, with him being demanding with Hughes and insensitive with Thomas, but at least he came around by the end for his bittersweet goodbye as the butler of Downton. Speaking of Thomas, I’m slightly mad that Mrs. Patmore never apologized for assuming that he and Andy were doing something untoward – they even had the scene where Andy admits that he can’t read in front of Mrs. Patmore and Thomas, and we don’t even get a shot of Mrs. Patmore realizing that she’d been mistaken. Thomas definitely had an extremely rough go of this season, and it made me so sad to see him genuinely shaken and lonely, but at least he finally got what he wanted at the end. I haven’t watched the movies yet but I really really really hope they give him a romantic interest in them, I think he deserves one… I like that the finale has all the couples happy, with a few still up in the air (Molesley/Baxter, Andy/Daisy) so it doesn’t feel like a total cheesefest. This would definitely be an episode I’d return to if I wanted some comfort food.

As a whole, Downton Abbey was definitely a show of ups and downs. When it was all working, it was marvellous – all these interesting characters that I cared about having interesting interactions and finding a way through their lives and romances and careers. But when it wasn’t working (cough season 4 cough), it was an absolute slog to get through, and I think the show’s biggest weakness is how it can’t convincingly write two people falling in love over a period of time to save its life, which is troublesome when that’s what 80% of the show is about. I think the first season started off with a big dream and a strong conflict that petered out as they didn’t know how to resolve it in an interesting way, and then it was just getting its footing when two major characters left the show at the end of season 3. Season 4 definitely felt like the writers were scrambling and throwing anything they could think of at the wall, and it didn’t go over well with me at all. But they eventually found their groove again, and cut back on the amount of characters so that we could really focus on the ones I was actually invested in. And after so many trials and tribulations, it ended on the perfect note. It’ll be a 6/10 from me.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

02/04/2024 – 02/10/2024

Sunday

Manga Sunday time. Okay.

Girl Meets Rock good. Surprisingly considered character writing, and the possible aroace rep is fun.

Undead Unluck good.

Dandadan good.

Magilumiere good.

One Piece good.

Cipher Academy… I love this manga so much that it’s hard to sufficiently express the depth of my affection. I love the story, I love the writing, I love the characters, I love the designs, I love the art, I love everything about Cipher Academy. While I’m miserable at it coming to a somewhat untimely end, I’m grateful that I was able to read this masterpiece every week, because sometimes it was truly the only thing that kept me going. Even though its puzzles were truly nigh-impossible to solve, the heartfelt emotional core of the manga shone through clearly in its story and characters. I love Iroha as a protagonist – he may seem weak, and he’s gone through unthinkable things, but he still has the strength to learn and grow and reach for his unreachable ideals while inspiring others along the way. I love Toshusai’s intimidating aura and hardheaded beliefs that hide her pure desire to have friends and call each other cute nicknames. I love Kogoe’s mad scientist schtick and her One Point Lessons and her catchphrase and how even though she tries to come across as a cool and unhinged scientist, she can still be caught off guard and act more like a regular teenage girl. I love Tayutan’s emotionless puppy-dog retainer role and her fierce loyalty to Toshusai and her purposefully holding back all the time so as to not hurt people and her deep loneliness because of that and I love her twilight eyes. I love Yukako’s butch design and how seriously she takes things even if it’s a dance battle. I love Enchan’s moe sleeves and how she can be cute and cool at the same time and while she may seem naïve, the way she saw through to Iroha’s heart and vowed to support him was so amazing. I love Anon’s mysterious and morally ambiguous motivations and wily nature and how she constantly breaks the fourth wall and while seeing her get bullied was fun, it was even more fun to see moments of sincerity from her. I love Yosaimura’s protagonist aura and natural charisma and that one panel where she’s scaring the daylights out of Kogoe and how she’s always looking out for the interests of the group in terms of morale and cooperative harmony. I love Byu’s gun eyebrows and how she likes to hide under tables. I love Cipher Academy. This story and its characters will live on in my heart for a long, long time.

Monday

The new Undead Unluck was fun. When I see those hyper-detailed close ups on eyes, I know I’m in for a decently directed episode. I love how Billy’s plan was partially foiled by him not taking into consideration how Tatiana would still like him enough to attack him when Unjustice’d.

Finally read through the ending of Perilous Journey and I feel genuinely emotionally moved… Stewart has done such an excellent job of giving each kid their moments and subtle conclusions to their character arcs. From Kate mastering the regurgitation trick and her general physical prowess and her choice to step away from the cycle of violence to Constance accepting and utilising her precognition, to Sticky overcoming his shame with strength and resilience, and to Reynie finally believing in Mr. Benedict and realizing that his disillusionment with humankind is a disservice to its inherent goodness…this is so good. But indeed, it’s extremely perilous, and the stakes have been raised significantly since the last book. S.Q. is also a really tragic figure to me…seeing Mr. Benedict manipulate his kind nature was so chilling and sad. I know exactly what he means when he says he’s dealt a blow to the best part of S.Q., and I too hope he recovers instead of delving further into hatred. Overall, what a wonderful adventure book. I only give scores to books on my bookshelf, so this one gets a strong 8/10.

I’ve gotta get through my library books before I return them on Friday so I tried reading The Plentiful Darkness by Heather Kassner, but the writing style felt so uptight and purple prosey that it turned me off right away, so that’s going to be a pass from me.

Next up was Thin Air by Michelle Paver, which I picked up after reading and thoroughly enjoying her other ghost story, Dark Matter. And the similarities between the two are definitely striking – slightly pathetic male protagonists running from the world by traversing the limits of the Earth, forming bonds with dogs, light touches of repressed homoerotic feelings (?? I can’t believe she did this twice LOL I respect her so much for that), etc. While I liked the setting of Dark Matter more and its slowly encroaching dread and isolation (versus Thin Air’s constant threat of physical danger), I do like the setup of the complicated relationship between Thin Air’s protagonist and his brother, and it’s refreshing to get full blown conversations and arguments. The brother relationship is the emotional crux of this novel, and I thought it was genuinely compelling and filled with the realistic contradictions of love and hate between siblings (the part when they were digging the ice caves…when Stephen talked about how no one else remembers the things from their childhood and no one else would call him that nickname again…). But of course, it all led to the expected conclusion…I can’t help but feel that Paver just wrote the same book again lol I mean, it’s still a satisfying arc to watch play out, but it’s just lost a bit of the surprise factor. But I quite like her writing style and how she instilled dread through the vivid and careful descriptions of the mountain and the characters’ surroundings, and the part with the rucksack seemingly slowly inching its way towards Stephen was wonderfully horrible, as was the truth about what happened to Ward. I’m just glad to have read another adult fiction book that I enjoyed. (What I’ve realized is that a lot of contemporary popular fiction is just about characters being introspective or talking to other characters and not doing a whole lot…and what I want is an actual story where things happen and characters go on a journey or adventure…which is difficult to find outside of fantasy or sci-fi. Why can’t they write books about adults going on puzzle solving adventures too…)

Tuesday

I tried reading Press Reset by Jason Schreier, but after the first chapter I realized I wasn’t as interested in video game industry history as I thought I was (especially when I didn’t recognize or care about most of the games being mentioned here). And also it felt like the same old story – big conglomerates screwing over workers just to make their bottom line a little better. It’s especially depressing to read this when we’re only a month into 2024 and there’s already been over 1000 layoffs in the gaming industry and talk of an incoming crash, so I didn’t feel like reading any further.

Wednesday

The last book I have from my library haul is The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch, which is the first of another book series from my childhood. As a kid I loved the meta writing and the “kids solving puzzles and going on an adventure with interesting artifacts” formula, and as an adult I still enjoy it, but I can see the places where the book is somewhat lacking. There’s no real impetus to the kids deciding to head out on this adventure, since what happened to the magician was so vague, but I get the feeling the author just wanted to get the ball rolling so whatever. I like Cassandra and Max-Ernest’s personalities and quirkiness and I like how unique and memorable their respective living situations are (surprise gay grandparents??? I can’t believe I didn’t remember this, or I guess I didn’t clock it as a kid. And Max-Ernest’s half-and-half gimmick is fun).

Thursday

It’s DunMesh Thursday, and today I’ve made 汽水肉 (too lumpy, should’ve added more tapioca starch) and fried hash browns (they fell apart in the oil…should’ve added more flour and made them thicker…). In contrast to my bad cooking, though, the episode was super duper good. This was one of my favourite chapters from the manga, as it featured Chilchuck, my favourite character, trying to get through a conundrum by himself. I loved all the squishy and wiggly animation, I loved the direction, I loved the voice acting (Chilchuck’s voice through the ages, Marcille asking him how old he is, Laios info-dumping about mimics…), god everything was just so perfect and fun and funny.

Finished reading The Name of This Book is Secret and it was just alright. I just feel like there was never any real incentive for the kids to do all these things – like, I didn’t get invested in Cass’s guilt over Benjamin and I don’t buy that Cass and Max-Ernest are such close friends when they’ve only talked to each other for like five scenes. And then it was hard to buy that Cass was a hardcore survivalist when she goes into the Midnight Sun with absolutely zero planning or foresight. The whole adventure arc just felt weird, and I wish the singular puzzle in the Midnight Sun was more naturally integrated (why on earth would this secret passageway built in an evil villain’s lair have a helpful riddle for you to figure out the passcode). And then the kids getting these cool rewards at the end just felt so unearned… I’ll read the rest of the series, but it’s sad that this ended up in the Baccalario camp rather than the Stewart one.

Friday

Drag Race Friday yayyyyyy I’m so tired of Plane Jane because her “arc” feels like it was manufactured in a lab to get screentime and I hate it. The main challenge was fun, though, and it was nice to just see the girls in the workroom chatting with each other for a majority of the episode. Personally I would’ve put Nymphia’s look in the top over Dawn’s, but I’m also fine with her taking a safe placing because I feel like it doesn’t do well to stand out too much at the front end of the competition.

Satuday

After thinking about it for a bit, I think I’m obligated to induct harmoe as a whole into the STM awards because I love literally every single one of their singles and albums and songs. As my friend and I always say, harmoe never misses.

Other than that, it’s Chinese New Year so all I did was lie around and eat snacks.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

01/28/2024 – 02/03/2024

Sunday

Manga Sunday yayyyy Girl Meets Rock is getting interesting, I was totally expecting the guy from the guitar shop to walk in, but it was Rin instead. Rin herself is pretty intriguing, as it seems like she’s keeping some cards close to her chest in regards to the band…

Undead Unluck is good as usual, it’s fun to see an older and more surly Top. Another sick mom to add to the tally, though. Maybe in this loop we’ll see more details about Top and Haruka’s potential romance.

Oshi no Ko fun, the deadpan humor really got to me.

Dandadan okay, I’m a little tired of the non-stop action sequences.

Magilumiere good, obviously there’d be some drawback to Midorikawa getting the chip implanted, but I’m sure they’ll find a way to circumvent it.

One Piece good.

CIPHER ACADEMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDD IF THIS IS THE END I’LL BE SO SADDDDDDDD I really hope it’s not…I’m holding onto Nisioisin copium so so so hard… The chapter itself was also amazing, with a look at everyone’s true backstories, Kogoe laying out her philosophy but Iroha turning it on its head, THE HANDSHAKE SPREAD WHERE IT LOOKS LIKE IROHA HAS HIS HANDS AROUND THE WORLD, EVERYONE ELSE SHAKING HANDS BUT YOU DON’T KNOW HOW SINCERE THEY ARE, MORE YOSAIMURA/ANON, TAYUTAN… The timeskip is so scary…I can’t tell if it’s the beginning of something new and everything else has just been the prelude, or if it’s a hasty jump to land some sort of epilogue… I’ll keep holding out hope but please…

Live Roulette gave me Siegfeld Junior High’s 1st Live today, so I watched/listened to it as I read a book (more on that later). I’m impressed by how far they’ve come in such a short time, especially Mtzw, whose rendition of Rebellion here was a lot stronger than in the stage play months earlier. Hinapiyo is still the reigning vocalist, though, and I’m so glad they gave her Mimorin’s descant in Watashitachi wa Mou Butai no Ue. I wish they did the arm choreography in Onikurenai… Overall it was a fun show, they’re all so cute and energetic and I appreciate all the harmonies they’re doing.

As for the book I’m reading, it’s Ring of Fire by P. D. Baccalario. It’s the first book of a series that I really liked as a child, so I’m reading it again to see if it holds up. So far, I’ve been a little disappointed…the cutaways to the random adult characters pulling the strings and talking cryptically feel like such momentum killers, and the usual “kids exploring a city on an adventure and solving puzzles” thing isn’t really grabbing me here. I do love that one scene in the beginning, when the kids are first meeting and the lights go out…I can imagine the scene so perfectly in my mind – the silence of the snowy night, the nervous excitement of meeting new people and coming across a strange situation together…it’s all so thrilling, and it’s the one scene that stuck with me after all these years. I’ve just gotten to the part where the apartment building collapses, and it’s genuinely harrowing – I can’t believe they actually killed that guy (but I don’t like how it basically amounted to a fat joke). Finally, it feels like we have some actual stakes (halfway through the book cough). I’m also seeing the bits of Harvey/Elettra and Mistral/Sheng shipping going on, I think it’s cute and I’m curious to see how they develop. (Speaking of Sheng lmao c’mon man 好 doesn’t actually mean cool, it just means good, so it’s weird to have that be his catchphrase.)

Afterwards I finally watched Day 1 of Ijigen Fes, the IDOLM@STER x Love Live! concert, and it was okay. I’m probably biased, but literally none of the IM@S songs interested me except for Tulip, which I already knew that I liked. (Thank you for having Rikako sing Tulip…they did that for me…) The Love Live girls had a decent showing, but the highlight for me was definitely KALEIDOSCORE… Liyuu’s singing is just so amazing.

Monday

Day 2 of Ijigen Fes today, and oh my GODDDDDD SHU’S PERFORMANCE WAS SO GOOD just so much fun and energy, it was like watching Avril Lavigne for real… THE NEW VERSES FOR RYOURAN VICTORY ROAD WERE SO HYPE OH MY GOD AQOURS NO LEADER TAKAMI CHIKA!!!!!!!!!! OSHIMAI NANTE NAINAINAI!!!!!!!!!! It’s so surreal seeing the Cotton Candy Ei-Ei-Oh MV playing on the huge screen in Tokyo Dome… Also Snow Halation makes me cry literally every time I see those UO’s go up ahh

Afterwards the Live Roulette dealt me AZUNA’s unit live, and it was just okay. I’m not the biggest AZUNA fan anyway, but I do like some of their songs like Maze Town and Kakushiaji. Shizuku’s solos were both great as well, and the bit with the plushies was cute, but the most memorable thing about this concert would definitely have to be Tomoriru’s goodbye…it’s so unfortunate that things turned out the way that they did, but I’m glad she gave us some great performances as Setsuna before she graduated. But man, when they all started tearing up at the end of Tokimeki Runners… (I cried again…very emotional set of lives today.)

I finished reading Ring of Fire while watching the concert, and there’s no way on god’s green earth Mr. Baccalario seriously expects me to believe there are PALANQUINS in fucking SHANGHAI in 2006??????? Or rather, I can’t believe that he believed that while writing this book LMAO for how globe-trotting and international this series sets out to be, it falls a little short with non-Western cultures. Now that I’ve finished it, there’s this feeling of…lingering disappointment. I love kids going on adventures, and I love the setting and the feeling of fate converging on these four kids, but the adventure itself was so lackluster… Most of it is just poking around Rome until they happen upon something that leads them to the next step, and by the end they’ve got a “mystical all-knowing” Romani woman straight up telling them what to do… I know the author is trying to do a “it’s all fate leading the way” thing but it just comes off as unsatisfying and being cryptic for cryptic’s sake. And for that matter, the book tries hard to give each kid their screentime, but it’s a little silly when Elettra gets all the action while Mistral’s kidnapped and subsequently rescued because the female villain “went soft” and Harvey and Sheng go into a house, get scared, leave, and contribute nothing else to the climax. The ending even points out how so many things have been left unanswered (as if it’s not confident in its own plotting), and I don’t know if they’ll be answered in the later books, but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like is anyone ever gonna explain the in-universe reason why the professor guy had a trunk full of teeth with letters carved onto them? Because it’s so blatantly just “cool Italian history trivia” + “oh right we need a puzzle for them to solve” shenanigans with no logical throughline. Also the villains were cheesy as all hell, oooo it’s the DEVIL and his number is SIX SIX SIX WOAHHH I know it’s a kid’s book, but come on…

Tuesday

Not gonna lie, the news that Cipher Academy is ending sent me into such a depression spiral that I just laid in bed all day playing Animal Crossing and moping and cursing Shounen Jump as a whole. I’ve never held the magazine in very high regard, as I feel like most of its big “hits” are just boring derivative battle manga (and I feel that especially with some of the newer series they’re heavily promoting…), so Cipher Academy caught me by surprise with its amazing character designs and writing and heartfelt emotion… I’ll talk more about it later in a different post, but Cipher Academy is genuinely the best manga I read in 2023 and now one of my favourite manga of all time, and I really wish it could’ve lived longer (and that I could collect it physically in English…). Excluding One Piece and Undead Unluck, I hope all of Jump’s series [COMPLIANCE VIOLATION]

Wednesday

Chainsaw Man good. Nayuta’s really in it now.

I’m continuing my anime concert and book reading duets today with AZALEA’s 1st Live and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. It felt a little weird to be watching the big Love Lives out of order when I’m literally three years behind so I chose Azalea’s live, and I was itching for a good “four kids go on an adventure” after being disappointed with Ring of Fire so I picked Perilous Journey back up. The live is fine so far – AZALEA isn’t one of my favourite subunits, but the new songs from their full album were such bangers that I had to check this live out. The light choreography in SKY JOURNEY was actually kind of amazing, I wish Love Live did more stuff like that.

Perilous Journey is fun so far, just some good ol’ adventuring with a dash of mortal peril.

Thursday

The new Dungeon Meshi was really fun. I’m trying to keep up a tradition of making/eating good food to go with the episode (so far it’s been fenzhenrou, meatballs, and soup), so today was homemade hash browns…not necessarily the healthiest thing, but I had to make something in a jiffy and it was either that or not eat anything so I think Senshi would let me slide. Lots of great comedy moments, but also I love how the ghost chapter really has a whole self-contained thematic arc that’s even topped off with a sitcom-esque punchline at the end. I love Laios being a weird guy and having fun with his sword parasite buddy.

I read a big chunk of Perilous Journey today, and what a perilous journey indeed. But it’s so satisfying to see the kids use their wits and abilities to solve each clue and thwart their pursuers, as well as eerie to see the “ghost” of Mr. Benedict and Number Two along the way. What I’m noticing is how much care Trenton Lee Stewart gives to each of the kids’ emotional states – in contrast to Ring of Fire where each kid basically had one defining personality trait to set them apart and nothing else, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance all feel really fleshed out and real, each with their own worries and perspectives and ways of thinking. (Sorry to compare you, Baccalario, but I can’t deny that it was on my mind since I read this right after Ring of Fire.) I especially love Reynie as a protagonist and a leader for the other kids, his keen emotional intelligence and observation skills means that he’s usually careful about what he says and is constantly keeping an eye out for the others’ wellbeing. There’s a lot of subtle character writing going on here, and each pair within the quartet have a distinct and believable dynamic. Story-wise, I think I prefer the set-up of the first book a little more – at least when they were in that institute, they had some room to breathe and regroup and feel safe in each other’s presence. Here it’s just non-stop action and pursuit, which has me anxious the whole time.

Friday

Drag Race time: I really don’t care for Plane Jane and all the drama she’s causing, it’s just annoying at this point. I hope they don’t try to solve a redemption arc down our throats but it’s looking likely. The girl groups were fun, I hate to say it but I actually do like the style that recent RuPaul songs are going for. I’m just glad that Nymphia is holding her own through all these different types of challenges. Runway-wise, I really liked Q’s look as it all looked well put together and considered, BUT OH MY GODDDDD NYMPHIA JUST STEALS THE SHOW EVERY TIMEEEEEE. I’m sad to see Amanda go…

I don’t usually talk about music on here (because cataloguing every new song I listen to would be insane, even for me), but Louie Zong released a new album called RAT TAXI and I think I’m going to induct it into the STM Awards…which I think is a first for Week in Review? I just love the beats and the instruments he used on this one, and there’s not a single song I don’t like, which is my only criteria for albums to make it in. So yayyyy

Saturday

Touched grass today and went home and immediately fell asleep

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

01/21/2024 – 01/27/2024

Sunday

Manga Sunday is back in full swing and to start us off, it’s Girl Meets Rock! Nice to know that gay people exist in this story, and the art is still super charming. I like how bad Hatocchi’s band is, but it feels like we’ll soon cross over into “chasing your dreams and being rewarded for it” territory so it won’t be exactly what I was looking for…but I’ll stick around and see how it goes.

Undead Unluck was super good, as usual. I love getting these little hints about what each Master Rule is, and the main guy is particularly interesting.

An interesting dissection of parasociality in the latest Oshi no Ko chapter… Truly, Ai and all celebrities like her are made up of the perceptions of everyone else in the world, which leaves little room for their true selves. Not to mention the purity streak of the Japanese idol industry… I’m glad Ruby is eking out her own way in contrast to her mom, though, and understanding why Kana did what she did. Hopefully everyone will be alright by the end…

Dandadan: Oh, so that’s Zuma’s design… I mean, it’s certainly different from the other boys, but I don’t know if I necessarily like it. It’s mostly his hair that I think is a little stupid lol but his personality’s fun, it’s about time we got a stoic guy in the group. I’m pretty fatigued with all these “oh no we lost the ball again” shenanigans but whatever, I’m just looking forward to when this arc ends and Zuma joins the friend group.

Magilumiere was fine, I wish Shigemoto developed his own feminine style instead of just emulating that clearly fridged woman from his flashback, but oh well.

One Piece was great, this is the most I’ve been invested in the manga in ages. I’m glad Kuma has a chance at survival and this Buster Call feels like an exciting and exhilarating end to the Egghead arc.

SpyFam was…okay. The side characters trying to lean into the Detective Conan-esque murder mystery and the protagonists’ overpowered abilities thwarting that immediately made for some decent comedy, but nothing too special.

CIPHER ACADEMY IS SO GOOD… THE PUN ON MORG/MORGUE BUT IT ALSO HAVING THEMATIC RELEVANCE… THE CALLBACK TO THE FIRST CODE IN THE SERIES… THE AMAZING FULL CIRCLE TETE-A-TETE BETWEEN IROHA AND TOSHUSAI… YOSAIMURA GETTING ANON’S CHAIR FOR HER LIKE A TRUE GENTLEMAN… NOHIME’S ONE POINT LESSON… TOSHUSAI FINISHING FIRST JUST LIKE BEFORE, BUT IROHA PUTTING HIS OWN SPIN ON IT BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT TOSHUSAI’S PRIVACY… USING CODES/DUPLICITY FOR A GOOD CAUSE… TOSHUSAI’S SMILE AND IRORINNNNNNNNNNN AND THE CAESAR CODE AND THE CAESAR STATUE AND AHHHHH OUR BOY’S THE EMPEROR!!!! The statue’s shield being a cipher wheel is so cute… I really hope this is just the beginning but not the end, but even if it isn’t, I’m satisfied with this triumphant conclusion…probably. I’ll be really heartbroken when Cipher ends because I love reading it every week…

I checked out the first episode of High Card… My history with this franchise is somewhat interesting (to me, anyway) – I followed this one Japanese artist on Twitter for their Yowamushi Pedal fanart way back in the day, and over the years they’ve become an actual character designer in the anime industry. High Card is one of their projects, so I’ve been hearing about it for a while… And recently they announced a stage play adaptation starring one of the guys I like from A3! and one of the girls I like from Revue Starlight, so I figured I’d finally get around to watching the anime to see if the rest of the franchise is worth checking out. All that preamble aside, I stopped watching the episode about eight minutes in LMAO My suspicions that they wouldn’t be able to capture the character designer’s style in animation were confirmed, and the story is just a juvenile mess… As a kid I literally wrote stories about fantasy kingdoms based on the different card suits, and here it’s being presented in all seriousness with haphazard style and zero substance. I didn’t look into anything beforehand, so I had the impression it was some sort of crime drama with a dash of heist shenanigans? But the magic element is just too goofy and nonsensical to take seriously. I don’t know, maybe I’ll still check out the stage play because they’ll have singing and acrobatics, but the anime will be a hard pass from me.

With the Twitter timeline abuzz with the news of more Monogatari, I figured it was as good a time as any to actually watch the whole series and catch up before the new anime starts. I first watched Bakemonogatari as a kid and didn’t really get it, but after I fell in love with Cipher Academy I wanted to get into more of Nisioisin’s work, so I rewatched Bake and had a fun time. Today I finally started chipping away at the movies, and I watched Kizumonogatari: Tekketsu. What I liked the most about Bake, and Monogatari in general, was the unique and heavy sense of mood and atmosphere that I haven’t really seen in any other anime. The surreal and almost liminal locations, the odd and staged way characters move through them, the unique directorial flourishes we now call SHAFT-isms, I really vibe with all of it. The story itself hasn’t gotten far enough for me to get attached to anyone yet, but we’ll see how that goes as I work my way through the series. This first movie was a fun dive back into Monogatari mode and all its eccentricities, even if the story felt like it was moving painfully slow at times. But the walk down into the station and the slow lead-up to Kiss-shot was great.

Monday

Shamefully, I must admit that I read Vtuber Confucius. It’s a deeply stupid premise that’s not even executed that well, and once they started shoehorning in other philosophical teachings as Vtubers I truly lost interest. This is something that should’ve been a shitpost Tweet at the most.

Things in Oni to Tengoku got resolved a lot quicker than I’d thought – I was definitely expecting a dramatic rescue by Manabu, but I can also get down with Oni to Tengoku’s usual realist approach. The way that the story uses these conventions to actually explore the main couple’s relationship in depth is what’s really engaging… The high schooler had a nice bit of a characterization too, with all the trappings of insecurity that come with a high school romance. What I love most of all about Oni to Tengoku is how a lot of things go unsaid/communicated non-verbally and are presented through illustrations alone – I feel like most manga tend to have their characters over-explain things, as if the mangaka isn’t confident that their drawings are conveying what they want to convey, but Oni to Tengoku lays it all bare and leaves it up to interpretation. And the drawings are so gorgeous in the first place, too… I love just how this work uses the medium to the fullest. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Manabu responds to Aoki’s proposal.

A Second Goodbye to You: Lol oh nooo the university student got stabbed to save Hiroki huh oh nooo whatever shall he do? Yeah I’m just sticking with it to see how it ends at this point.

Next I tried reading this BL called OΣG!!! = Oh My God =, and while I like the art style, the compositions and character designs are just such a busy mess that I didn’t want to read any further.

I finished reading Akuheki volume 3…and it’s really good… I love how this BL started off seeming like a dark BDSM sex manga, but it’s become a genuine exploration of how trauma can shape your beliefs and affect your relationships as an adult… ALSO, THE EX JUST HAVING A SIDEPLOT BL PREMISE WITH THE COWORKER????? I really respect the mangaka for actually going there because it’s sooooo funny (but also cute! And had thematic relevance!). The detailed look at Kojima’s backstory was so chilling and illuminating – it’s dramatic, but in a way where it still feels believable, and you can really get a sense of why Kojima turned out the way he did. I’m sure that he and Daimon can work their twisted relationship out somehow, but it’ll take some effort.

Last on my BL binge today was this manga called We Won’t Call It Love, and it looks like it’ll be an angsty ride. It’s interesting to start the main couple off with one of them just starting a comphet marriage while the other realizes his feelings, but we’ll see how it goes.

Tuesday

I don’t know what’s going on with Amazon Prime, but I guess sometimes they just lie to you about what’s leaving the platform because Downton Abbey’s back after a short absence from the service. It’s all the typical soap opera shenanigans with a dash of war drama, but it’s fine as background noise. As ever I feel really bad for Edith, and as ever the sense of time is so weird in this show…one scene Ethel’s announced that she’s pregnant and the very next she’s already had the baby. I loved that little scene where Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes talk about his move to be with Lady Mary, I think Hughes is the only person who could call Mary a minx in Carson’s presence and not be reprimanded for it. Their closeness to each other is so sweet and comforting. I’m annoyed that the show tends to cheat on the difficult decisions facing the characters by having the problems resolve themselves, like “Patrick” leaving on his own or Matthew’s legs miraculously healing or Lavinia conveniently dying. I almost wish the Lord Grantham and Jane plotline had gone on for longer – I find master/maid stories to have a more interesting dynamic than lady/servant ones. And given how morally upright Lord Grantham’s been up to this point, it was fun to see him engaging in some actions that torture his conscience.

Chainsaw Man good.

Wednesday

I guess ghosts are now canon in Downton Abbey? It’s a little lame that they drudged up Lavinia’s corpse to bless Mary and Matthew’s marriage with a blank slate of morality but whatever. It’s also a little lame that they’ve written in a new thing for them to argue about all season but also whatever. Thomas and O’Brien’s hater alliance finally collapsing is funny, at least. I’ve noticed that on Downton, they tend to leave a lot of important moments implied/off-screen, like characters telling each other information or even things like Matthew and Mary actually saying “I do” to each other at the altar. It feels like some lost opportunities.

Wow they really can’t stand Edith getting even a moment of happiness, huh? Mary gets all the bells and whistles and the whole town cheering for her as she drives up to the church for her wedding, meanwhile Edith gets left at the altar… Also I’m just now remembering that Carlisle’s threat has yet to come into light…I hope it does, because otherwise that’ll be another bullet that the Crawleys dodge by deus ex machina and make all that tension surrounding Mary’s conundrum a moot point (lol I looked it up. Guess it was all for nothing). God the Swires are just tools to absolve the living of all their guilt, huh? Sure, they’ll get to hem and haw about it for a couple scenes to cause drama, but then the hand of Swire reaches down and clears them of all their hang-ups so that they can do what’s most convenient for them anyway. Meanwhile, Anna and Bates’ romance is so filled with misery after misery that I’m actually getting bored of it. Branson is also majorly getting on my nerves, and I don’t really buy his and Sybil’s relationship.

…I’ve been complaining a lot, so I will say that the Mrs. Hughes cancer scare plotline ended very cutely, with Carson being relieved about her health. Those two are really the highlight of the show for me. And I’ll also say that I’ve been enjoying Thomas’ slow redemption arc from gay villain to mischievous over-achieving failgay (girl why did you think the black market thing would work…or the dog thing…).

God it’s so ghoulish and stomach-churning to watch the doctors argue while Sybil’s pregnant when you know what’s about to happen… Oh I just thought of another thing that annoys me about this show lol but by and large it feels like people catch feelings each other for literally no reason other than the writers want them to. Whenever a new character enters the scene they always have a knowing glance at their prospective paramour so that we in the audience know that they’re going to have relations, but there’s seemingly no rhyme or reason to why the characters are attracted to each other in the first place other than physical attraction, I guess, but that’s such a shallow basis to a relationship. It really feels like the writers know they want certain characters to date but have no idea how to actually naturally lead them there, so it just jumps to them declaring their love for each other when we’ve barely seen them hold a conversation or have any sort of dynamic or romantic chemistry.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been slowly working my way through the A3! Blooming Live 2022 livestreams and having a grand old time hearing the seiyuu’s actual voices, and I’ve finally finished them today. As suspected, Tasuku Hatanaka and Shunsuke Takeuchi are the steadiest of the bunch, and their duet was so amazing… Kentarou Kumagai and Toshiyuki Toyonaga were other stand outs, and I have to commend Chiharu Sawashiro for hitting those Bb4’s in chest voice (!!!??) and Daisuke Hirose for doing all that actual dance choreo on top of singing. Junta Terashima also made me emotional with Hisoka’s solo, Shake the Shape and Road to Manjuu Master were incredibly hype, and Tooi makes me cry everytime. My only gripe was with Shintarou Asanuma…he didn’t sing half of his lines…they just played the recording while he passionately lip synced…it was especially painfully obvious in his duet with Chiharu, which just ended up sounding like a solo song… It’s just so jarring when Chiharu is literally singing his heart out while Shintarou is miming… I wonder if he had some throat issues…? But they would’ve had to prepared all this audio in advance so like?? I don’t know, maybe he had other circumstances, but this was a really disappointing showing for me. The live as a whole was fun, though, and it’s was funny to catch all the errors they made that got covered up in the Blu-ray version.

Finally, after months of stalling, I’m bringing back Movie Roulette……….but for my ever growing list of live shows instead. Today’s selection was Liyuu’s koii concert tour, and I watched the Shanghai leg because of course I did. It’s really funny to hear her talk to the audience in Chinese, as it’s a lot different from the kind of semi-prepared MC you’d get in a Japanese idol concert. She’s truly going off the cuff here, and the venue is small enough that the audience is yelling stuff at her and she can respond right back. Liyuu’s a lot more brusque in Chinese – it’s like a special side of her that only we Chinese fans get. The concert itself was cute, it introduced me to two Chinese songs of hers I hadn’t heard anything about?? And they were both bangers too… I was also impressed by her pitch control – her tone isn’t always my favourite, but at least she can usually hit the notes.

Thursday

As I’m finishing Downton season 3 this morning, I wanted to gather my thoughts before watching more. Overall, a fairly dark season, huh? I know it was the actors’ decision to leave the show, but having Sybil and Matthew die right after each other was a huge shock when I watched it for the first time, and it’s dreadful watching it happen all over again now. And then we had Bates in jail for most of the season, Anna miserable, Edith left at the altar only for them to write in yet another older gentleman who loves her but can’t be with her “for her own good”, Thomas failing every scheme he concocts and being subject to homophobia, Downton nearly going bankrupt…it seems like no one on this show can ever catch a break.

Despite all my griping about the writing on this show, I do care for a lot of the characters… Thomas and Mary have become so soft and sympathetic despite their slyness, and Edith has really endeared herself to me in how she tries to strive forward on her own path. (Strangely, I remember liking Anna and Bates on my first watch, but now their relationship bores me).

I will say though, season 4 hasn’t been impressing me thus far, as I don’t really care about any of the storylines… I don’t care about Mary tussling with her dad over how to run Downton, I don’t care about the love square between the footmen and the kitchen maids, I hate what they’ve done with Anna, Edna is annoying as hell and just another carbon copy “evil woman character” and I had to look her up on the wiki to make sure that she’ll be gone soon, I don’t care about Mary or Tom finding new romance, I Really don’t care about Rose, and I don’t really care about Edith’s romance either (the editor guy has as much personality as a paper bag)… It’d be faster to say what I am interested in, and that’s Carson/Hughes and Thomas, I guess. Hmmm okay I think I do also care about Mary and Tom’s awkward little friendship/in-law relationship, since they have some stuff in common now. And Tom’s definitely lost his edge after everything that’s happened, so he’s become more likeable in my eyes. I also like the elderly trio, as Violet and Isobel’s rivalry/begrudging friendship is always fun, and Dr. Clarkson provides some valuable wisdom to the ladies when they need to be knocked down a peg or two. Plus, after Dr. Clarkson’s weird little failed proposal to Isobel, I can’t help but read him as still interested in her, which adds some nice flavour to their interactions.

Took a break from Downton to travel to DunMesh. God it’s so good to eat food while watching this show. The episode was perfectly serviceable, but it’s a testament to Kui’s writing and considered world building that it’s still fun and engaging throughout.

Okay back to complaining about Downton. Rose is so annoying…with all the tragedies and serious problems going on in this house, her teenage fancies are so grating… I like Jack Ross, but I don’t care about their relationship, and also the actor’s American accent is so stilted that I can’t take him seriously. Great singing, though! It’s so funny that Thomas is still being vaguely threatening even though he’s just asking Baxter to keep an eye out for information. It’s not like he can do anything with most of it anyway. (God if Thomas, Violet, and Mary ever interacted…category 9 motherquake on the cunter scale).

Friday

New episode of Undead Unluck! Despite it being a pretty major turning point, the episode itself was just sort of perfunctory, with some odd janky animation here and there. I can only hope that the production team took it easy on these episodes in preparation for the big fight coming up (if I’m remembering correctly…?)

Also watched episode 15 of Kusuriya, and the first half was just fine and unnoteworthy, but once Lakan entered the scene I liked how they tried to vary up the visual style and compositions. This stretch of mysteries is just a little boring to me, though, so I’m not really looking forward to it.

Drag Race was also pretty uneventful – I never care for the improv challenges, but Plasma, Nymphia, and Sapphira’s skit was fun (actual singing and three-part harmony on Drag Race…wow). I don’t think Mirage should’ve lip synced…a really heartbreaking elimination.

Saturday

Weeks later, I’ve finally read another chapter of Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge and…it looks like my quest for an adult fiction book I enjoy is still unfruitful. The beasts themselves are decently interesting and I love cryptozoology, but I don’t like or care about the narrator and the romantic stuff they have going on, and their investigations are pretty shallow and boring. There just aren’t any real stakes for me to get invested in, and the writing feels so lethargic. I long for a book where things actually happen. (Meanwhile, every BookTuber I come across is recommending their 500th character-driven introspective study on the human condition and I’m sick of it!!! Where are the books with plots!!!!)

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

01/14/2024 – 01/20/2024

Sunday

I saw that this new manga called Girl Meets Rock! got added to the Manga Plus app so I checked it out. It’s pretty cute, I like the clean and simple art style and the down to earth writing – I’ve always wanted to see a “protagonist joins band” story that focuses less on success and more on how it kind of sucks and this looks like it could veer in that direction.

Watched the new Undead Unluck episode and it was pretty good, but it was evidently one of the weaker ones. At least Chikara’s Unmove ability gives them the perfect excuse to use still frames, but the pacing was a little all over the place (all the recaps and flashbacks were so road bumpy). The climactic moment was fun, though, and the scene where the group decompress was gorgeous, I loved the starry sky reflecting in the water and the interesting color choices. I also liked the little back and forth between Fuuko and Latla at the end – you can really see how much Latla cares for Rip, and it’s a nice nugget of characterization for these supposed villains.  

Monday

I found a list of short free itch.io games, but there was only one that really interested me so I quickly played it to procrastinate on starting the day. It’s called Please Tell Me You Love Me, and the premise of chatting with people as a live service game shuts down really drew me in… I’m no stranger to seeing my beloved anime mobile games get shut down, after all (fly high, KakuPuri). The writing was cute and funny, and you can really feel the sense of urgency as the server counts down to shutdown. I couldn’t really get myself invested in the main relationship, but it was a short and simple little game.

I caught up with Kusuriya while I ate lunch, and the outer court arc is turning out as boring as I’d feared. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fun moments, but the outer court just lacks the political tension and narrative momentum that I was enjoying in the rear court. I liked the monochromatic palette they went for Luolan’s entrance, though. It gave her a lot of gravitas, though I’m not sure how much that’ll pay off considering that she still hasn’t made any major moves as of chapter 60 ish of the manga and volume 3 of the light novel, so she definitely won’t get much other screentime in this season of the anime. If nothing else, I guess it’s just fun to see Maomao be her weird little kitty girl self.

Tuesday

Watched the DNDads edition of Dirty Laundry with my friend because she loves that podcast – I haven’t listened to it so I have no context for who any of the guests are (as usual), but the stories were decently entertaining so it was a fun time.

Wednesday

I rewatched the miniseries Quiz with my friend (who was watching it for the first time) – I’d originally watched it for its premise, but it was only after I fell in love with Succession that I realized Matthew Macfadyen starred in Quiz and I wanted to see it again. Unfortunately the show itself was a bit of a letdown, but Macfadyen’s performance was as good as it could’ve been, given what he had to work with. In general, the show feels like it’s enamoured with itself as it spins poetic monologues about the trappings of memory and the importance of truth, but the conclusion being so “it’s up to you what you believe” just comes off as wishy-washy. Not that they really could or even should’ve drawn a definitive conclusion, as the subjects of the true crime they’re adapting are still alive. (I think I’m going to avoid “based on a true crime” stories of living people altogether in the future…even a crime as benign as this one has me uncomfortable with how the artistic product will negatively impact the subject in our current internet age.) So what we end up with is a long preamble about how the heist may have taken place, a lukewarm defense to how it might all be a coincidence, and then a flaccid ending that adheres to what happened in the court case itself without drawing any thematic conclusions of its own. Some of the writing and directing choices were also odd and self-indulgent – why the long cringey “modern major general” bit that went nowhere? Or the dream musical dance sequence?? (Ironically, that part was my favourite, as it had Macfadyen dancing) As a whole the series was competently put together, but the tone was just too melodramatic to take seriously. The best parts were the dance number and the crumb of toxic yaoi between the studio executive guy and the ringleader guy. 2/10.

Thursday

It’s really fun to eat good food while watching DunMesh, even if this episode was less food-focused and more action-focused. I like that they’re playing around with the character designs and letting things be more fluid, and the directing and action throughout was amazing. All the faces that everyone pulls were great for comedy. I love the even more fluid memory that Laios conjures, it really captured the feeling of warmth and reminiscence. And then I LOVED him casually lording over the living armour and going on and on about his fun animal facts while he’s pulling the limbs off of this humanoid creature…it’s so maniacal and I love that for Laios. He’s such a funny little weirdo.

Friday

The new OP and ED for Undead Unluck are fun!! I like both of the songs, I liked the Tatiana POV shot from the OP, and I like how the ED is summer themed after the first ED was spring themed. I think I prefer the more unique artistic direction of the first OP over this one, but it’s still a fun time. The episode itself was lowkey but still engaging, with lots of interesting colors and blocking to accentuate the moody atmosphere. My favourite scene was Chikara bidding farewell to Ryo – having a character realize that someone they care about is part of something way bigger than them is always rife for drama, and here it’s nice and bittersweet. I’m really excited for next episode, though I fear that the preview gave too much away…ALSO AGOO BUNNY GIRL IS HERE YAYYYYY

Saturday

They’re really trying to go for dramatic storylines on this season of Drag Race, huh? The fact that the immunity potions can be used for anyone already heightens the social game to All Stars levels, plus they’re trying to set up all these rivalries between like Q and Dawn or Morphine and Mhi’ya or Sapphira and Plasma. It’ll definitely be an interesting season, if nothing else. I love Nymphia’s energy a lot…she’s kooky and crazy, but she’s also self-aware about it and uses it to her advantage. I also love ball episodes, so this was a fun one to watch as the girls get together and chat while they create costumes. Also I realized that…Megami’s confessional look reminds me a lot of Sasha Velour LOL the glasses, the baldness, the lopsided black crown, the social justice activism…I just don’t know if Megami necessarily has the same fashion acuity to be able to make it as far as Sasha did.

As for the ball, here are the things I took note of: The feathers on Mhi’ya’s canary look were so high they were half-covering her face… I loved Q’s man in the moon look, it felt the most like something you’d actually see in a classic fairy tale illustration. Nymphia’s little boy blue look was also amazing, I loved the styling and the androgyny. WOWWW how did Sapphira pack that pumpkin costume??? I appreciate Xunami going the extra mile to make the egg itself cuntily dressed, and somehow I didn’t see the reveal coming lol but it’s cute! Really fun idea and executed well. I don’t really get Plasma’s costume…like, the puppet just looks haphazardly tied on, and she’s evidently going for some sort of illusion but I just can’t see it. Aww Nymphia’s Angelina Jolie look was so sweet – not only did it match the original in style, but also in sentimentality. Y’know, if nothing else, I do admire Mirage’s tenacity and creativity in pulling a story together for her look even when she didn’t feel like it was going great. It all comes off pretty convincing on the runway. OH YES NYMPHIAAAAA SHE’S TAKING ITTTTT She rightfully deserved that win. The lip sync wasn’t anything too mindblowing, but I always like when the girls have spontaneous interactions while performing – it really elevates it to almost like a group number. Hershii was being a little mean at the end though, blocking Geneva from sight entirely…but her exit line was pretty clever and fun. The season is finally off and rolling.

As for Fantasy Drag Race…I think I’m going to make one last change to the roster. Dawn and Sapphira are strong competitors, but some of their fashion choices aren’t vibing with me… Nymphia, on the other hand, has really captured my attention. I think I’m going to go all in on her, which should make for an interesting point total if she doesn’t win lol. The only other two times I’ve gone all in on a single girl were Shea for All Stars 5 and Jimbo for All Stars 8, but those were pretty obvious bygone conclusions from the start.

After thinking about it for a while, I think…I’m going to free myself from the dread of reading and watching Frieren LOL It’s really just not for me… I’m so tired of the listless sentimentality and I don’t care about the central romance, the worldbuilding and lore and conflict don’t interest me at all, and it just feels like it’s going nowhere. I’ll watch a Fern/Stark anime compilation and read about their relationship on the wiki when the manga’s done, but that’s about it.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

01/07/2024 – 01/13/2024

Sunday

SpyFam was the only manga that updated today, and it was pretty cute. It hits all the typical SpyFam comedy beats, and I’m guessing that Anya will end up with 8 Stellas and 7 Tonitruses by the end for the drama of it all. We finally got to see Demetrius and wow…I guess he takes after his father in the looks department. I really hope that with all of the Desmonds introduced now, we can actually explore their personalities and dynamics in more depth.

Monday

Whoops

Tuesday

Chainsaw Man is back, and it’s still pretty bleak. I’m curious to see how this arc plays out, but it’s not looking good for our boy.

Wednesday

Ah

Thursday

This really isn’t a good look for the first Week in Review of 2024, huh. But in my defense, the weather’s gotten cold enough that my hibernation instincts have kicked in…

Friday

DunMesh is still really good, I love all the little animation flourishes and comedic moments, and the look and feel of it all is quite comforting. I guess the only little nag that I have is that because they’re putting all these manga chapters into one episode, I wish there was some more indication of time passing because it felt like they were eating three lunches in one day lol. I’m also glad to see Chilchuck, my favourite character, getting a lot of screentime and fun bits throughout the episode. The ending theme was cute if a little plain, but at least we got some gorgeous Ryoko Kui illustrations out of it.

Saturday

It’s time for the second Drag Race premiere, and it was pretty okay. Megami and Nymphia were the two on my radar after the Meet the Queens video – Megami for her nerd cred and entrance look and Nymphia for her Taiwanese rep and polished fashion sense and perspective. As a Chinese person, it’s really exciting to see a Taiwanese girl on Drag Race for the first time, and I think she might be my frontrunner after this episode…but more on that later. I also liked Plasma’s entrance line and personality, and her talent show number was fun. The photoshoot improv bit was much funnier than last episode’s – TS Madison is always a joy to see. The talent show was more lowkey, though, with only a few girls doing high energy dance numbers. I looooooooved Nymphia’s Chinese style makeup and water sleeve dancing, that was really the highlight of the episode for me. And it was ironic to me that Plane Jane was like “what’s your talent, holding up a sign?” when I could say the same for her (“what’s your talent, squirting condiments onto your boobs?”). Nymphia and Plasma were my favourites of the bunch for sure. Runway-wise, Nymphia’s was a little disappointing to me, but I’m hoping that after this episode she can veer away from the banana theming a little bit. Hershii’s dress was absolutely incredible – the color is stunning, for one, but also the fact that it’s all so perfectly smooth on her body is so impressive, plus I like the triangular glasses.

Plane Jane is a little…her incessant quips feel less fun mean and more just mean mean, so I’m not really enjoying her. Her attitude throughout the whole episode was kind of off-putting to me, especially with how she acted in the lip-sync and flipping in her hair in Geneva’s face. I’m usually not a reality TV villain fan, but I can see their merit in shaping an interesting narrative – here it just feels like she’s going beyond entertaining villainy and just into unsportsmanship and attention-seeking behaviour. Maybe she’ll get a sympathetic redemption arc later on, but right now I just want to see her comeuppance.

The theme across this split premiere has definitely been breastplate shenanigans…I’m looking forward to seeing the two groups mingle next week. As for my little Fantasy Drag Race activity, Megami unfortunately did not impress me enough to make the cut, so my final roster is Sapphira, Dawn, and Nymphia. I think these three are all multitalented and have a clear sense of self that’ll carry them far in the competition, so let’s see how the points stack up by the end of the season.

#week in review #2024

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

12/31/2023 – 01/06/2024

Sunday

Ended the year strong by doing absolutely nothing at all.

Monday

I finally got around to watching SpyFam season 2’s finale, and while it was cute and inoffensive, it was also an extremely nothing episode. Bond centric stories are already weak, and this one just dragged on for way too long. The montage at the end doing a “here’s where everyone’s at!” thing was pretty funny – why yes, thank you for reminding me that everyone has ended this season almost exactly where they started. I’m definitely starting to feel a slight fatigue with SpyFam’s stagnation, if that wasn’t already clear. Maybe the mangaka does have an overarching story they want to tell, but right now it really feels like they’re just trying to drag things out for as long as they can… I don’t blame them, because capitalism is a hellscape, but it does make SpyFam ring hollow at times. And I can’t help but think back to that interview they did where they mentioned how they have no real attachment to their characters – it does feel like they tried hard to find a winning popular manga formula, found it, and is now trying to ride the wave for as long as they can. I don’t know, maybe I’m just feeling bitter because I remember being so excited for this series when I first read it, and it’s a little frustrating to see its characters remain the same after so many years.

I watched Kusuriya next, and it had a similarly lowkey episode to round off its first half. That sequence of Maomao running everywhere was so janky and awkward that it made me laugh, but other than that there wasn’t really anything notable. Considering that the latter half is going to be mainly the Outer Palace arc, I’m slightly dreading it, but I’ll try to go in with an open mind.

Hopped onto Dropout and watched the Rick Perry documentary they put out and it’s pretty well done. You can really feel the care that the Dropout crew puts into every one of their productions. I personally would’ve loved to get a more in-depth look at the actual building process, but the documentary is cute for what it is.

Tuesday

Um

Wednesday

We watched some more House, and this batch of episodes was pretty good. I especially liked the one with Michael B. Jordan, it was nice and feel-good while also having plenty of fun Hilson hijinks. In general, the uptick of Hilson storylines has been very welcome. Taub was also a highlight here, having some nice Dad moments with Park and gay moments with the hockey player.

I read the latest Kusuriya manga chapter after that, and while ghost mysteries are my least favourite subgenre of Kusuriya mysteries, learning more about Lishu and seeing her stand up for herself was nice.

Thursday

We’re getting really close…we watched three more episodes of House today, and they were pretty intense. I didn’t care about the patients at all – Wilson’s cancer diagnosis really turns the show and the Hilson dynamic on its head. For the first time, we get to see House actually sacrifice a lot of his time and even his medication to take care of someone else, and all of their interactions in this episode were so charged and wonderfully angsty. The part where House holds Wilson in his arms as Wilson begs him to not let him die in the hospital was so… And then the ending, with House turning Wilson’s painful chemo treatment into a fun memory they could look back on was probably the nicest thing House has ever done for anyone on the show. The Hilson road trip episode after this was also fun…I’m glad we’re getting a lot of ship fodder before the show ends.

DUNGEON MESHI ANIME GOOD!!!!!! I’ve been really looking forward to this ever since it was announced, and I’m so glad to see that it’s as good as I could’ve hoped for. The voice cast is great, especially Kentarou Kumagai…casting him as Laios is such a galaxy brain move because I know him best as Omi from A3! and that one seme from that money lender BL, so in my mind his niche is big heart of gold guys with a tiny bit of edge to them if they’re pushed too far and that makes me INSANE. Because Laios is so nice and cute but also INSANE AND UNHINGED and I really can’t wait to see Kentarou act out some of the later scenes. (And considering that this is Studio Trigger, I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ll adapt the entire manga series). The colors are great, the loose animation is great, Marcille is so fun and pouty and whiny (as she should be) and has a ton of funny faces and noises, and the comedic timing is amazing (that janky close up on Marcille’s withering look was gold). I like the narrator too, and the food porn is top notch. The only small gripe I have is how low-budget the OP animation/direction feels, but if it means that the episodes themselves get more focus then so be it.

Friday

Today’s the day… We finally finished House M. D. All in all, it was a pretty fun show. Lots of deeply stupid and silly storylines and hammy writing, but when it got into House’s flaws as a person and his secret longing for companionship and acceptance, the plot was engaging and genuinely moving. House and Wilson’s relationship has and always will be the star of the show (even outside of ship reasons) because of how they desperately cling to each other despite their respective flaws – their relationship is really a testament to the power of love against all hardship and finding meaning in life and other people despite the pain of being alive. I think it’s probably one of the better medical procedurals out there for the strength of its character writing and their restraint with keeping the show from going completely off the rails (cough Grey’s Anatomy cough). I’ll give it a 6/10 (which is lower than the 8/10 I gave when I first watched it in high school, mostly due to me realizing that a lot of it is kind of stupid). (Shoutout to the scene where Foreman finds House’s medical I.D. propping up his wobbly table and realizes that he’s still alive – that was really cute).

It’s time for Manga…Friday? Undead Unluck is up first, and it’s very cute. It’s so fun to see Julia be much more of a hothead than Juiz was, but you can still some similarities between the two with her iron tenacity. For Fuuko to grow from mentee to mentor is such a fun change. I also loved the little details of Shen telling Mui about the stars and Sean clinging onto Gina when the building comes down.

Oshi no Ko…uh oh! Ruby’s losing herself a little bit! I wonder how far they’ll let her push things for the sake of making this movie.

Jumanji, huh… I’ve never watched it, but Dandadan seems to be paying homage to it pretty heavily. With how much they’ve teased Zuma’s appearance now, I’m expecting his eventual reveal to be pretty spectacular (or comedically underwhelming).

Magilumiere is still at full throttle – for a moment I thought glasses guy was also going to transform, but alas. This battle’s shaping up to be an interesting one, though.

Not Bonney getting her own Ace moment in One Piece… I’m guessing that Saturn’s pincers are poisoned or something, because I can’t really imagine Kuma surviving beyond this arc. But who knows, Oda doesn’t like to kill characters unless absolutely necessary, after all. The little bits of information Saturn dropped were also juicy, though I don’t remember enough about One Piece lore to properly theorize on it.

CIPHER ACADEMY IS SO GOODDDDDDDDDD and god this really does have finale energy, huh… Everyone’s dancing together and doing a million cool and fun poses, Enchan gets an emotional farewell after having accompanied Iroha this far, and then people drop off one by one until we get the full circle moment of Iroha facing against his Class Leading Private rivals again. (I was really hoping we’d learn more about the bear, but okay…) (Also it was super cute seeing Tayutan and Toshusai do a dance pose together, also Tayutan almost calling her Kyorarin???) (Also also seeing the girls who usually have their hair up have it down was super cute…) As Iroha points out, he’s now grown so much that he can actually compete with them head to head… It makes me emotional to think about how far he’s come. Anon betraying her other boygirlfriend Yosaimura was fun (you can always trust her to betray, after all), but then Iroha choosing Toshusai over her is so… Even though Iroha has undeniable chemistry with every girl in his class somehow, it makes sense that he wants to go up against Toshusai in the final battle for the title of Code Emperor. In another full circle moment, he’s fighting against the girl who started this whole journey off in the first place. If this is really the end (though I wouldn’t put it past Nisioisin to troll us again), I think I’d be pretty satisfied. At least it’ll feel like Cipher Academy was allowed to run its natural course and bring its story to a solid conclusion.

Saturday

Oh, it’s Drag Race season again, huh… I’m not like, a superfan of Drag Race, but I do enjoy watching it for the performances and the costumes. And because I’m a nerd with no friends, every season I like to do a little bit of Fantasy Drag Race points counting. I’m not competing against anyone, so it’s more just a test of how good my analytical skills are in predicting who the winner will be from episode one. So far, after watching the Meet the Queens promo and now episode one, Sapphira is definitely my frontrunner for how multitalented she is, and Dawn is also on my roster because I appreciate the weird elfgirl energy that she’s bringing. I think Q will also be a strong competitor, but I won’t put her on my roster. Megami and Nymphia are also on my radar, but I’ll have to see them on next week’s episode before I solidify my picks. The episode itself was pretty standard fare, though I’m curious to see how the immunity mechanic will shake things up. I have to admit that I’m a hermit so I usually don’t know the celebrity guest judges that they bring on, so I had to skip the Charlize Theron section because it was so boring to me. Then the talent show was decent – it seems like everyone’s a dancer this season, so a lot of girls just decided to do an original dance number…but I wish they’d come up with some more unique angles. This is why Q’s puppet number and Sapphira’s opera number stood out so much – if everyone’s serving cunt, it’s easy for your cunt to get lost in the crowd (as Aristotle once said). Runway-wise, I liked Dawn’s monster themed reveals and Q’s bug themed reveals. I was a little disappointed with Sapphira’s look because like…you can say it’s not just a leotard and everything but it still kind of just looks like a leotard. And while the color matching on the breast plate was immaculate and they shimmered really nicely, the boob size was so off… I’m a little worried about her fashion game now, but I still like her personality and energy a lot so I’m gonna keep rooting for her. SDJFKLDFSF NOT SAPPHIRA’S TITTIES BOUNCING ON THE GROUND DURING THE LIP SYNC LMAOOOO The lip sync also demonstrated why I think Q will make it far but not all the way – she’s a great performer in a lot of ways, but at the end of the day the Drag Race meta hinges on lip syncing, and it doesn’t seem like she has a lot of tricks and dips up her sleeve. And even putting dancing ability aside, her face didn’t really sell me on the song either. But let’s see how the rest of the season shakes out.

I read the latest A Second Goodbye to You chapter and I don’t have much to say about it, other than it’s cute seeing kid Hinata venture out to try and solve this conundrum himself. But I guess it’s also a little scary, because he won’t be able to fend off any physical attacks should he get himself in danger…

And it looks like that’s it for 2023’s Week in Reviews! I’m glad that I’ve been able to keep up with posting these – if nothing else, I can expel all the useless but plentiful thoughts I have and empty out my brain to make room for other things. Hopefully 2024 will be another year full of interesting stories.

#week in review #2023