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You're welcome, have a great day! ~

Happy birthday! :)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday from Australia! 🎉

Sending you birthday wishes from New Zealand.

"You’re alive! I was starting to wonder if maybe you’d left MAL behind."
Haha, no, I'm still kicking!

Yeah, I know I pick some series that are a bit . . . out there. For the spring season, you might be a bit disappointed by the anime I'll be giving a try: Yuru Camp season 3, Tensura season 3, The Fable (I'm a big fan of the manga), Girls Band Cry, and Blue Archive. Mostly safe picks, but it's a packed season. What will you be watching?

"I’m afraid I did hear similar diminishing enthusiasm for the series from the couple other people I know who watched it, but hopefully it manages to finish decently for you."
Unfortunately, my opinion worsened considerably. The female lead's voice is irritatingly high-pitched, she’s either super-hyped up or totally dejected, and the anime overuses the joke of her forgetting what year it is and talking about things that don’t exist yet. The male lead only seems to mature physically over the course of the series. In 1992, he’s a brooding, petulant teenager who thinks the PC-98 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. In 1999, he’s a brooding, petulant 20-something who thinks the (outdated) PC-98 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. In 2023, he’s a brooding, petulant 40-something who thinks the (forgotten) PC-98 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It seemed that the show spent more screentime on the characters trying to convince him to help with whatever project they were working on, rather than actually showing the creative process. The only glimpses viewers saw of the game they produced, which supposedly revolutionized the dating sim world, were of a rather unimpressive cutscene and a turn-based battle system that looked like a FF7 ripoff.

What’s worse, the plot veered off into a nonsensical direction involving nefarious American corporations, AI, and aliens. It was awful. In fact, it bothered me so much I had to go back on MAL right away so I could rant about it, instead of waiting a few months like I usually do, haha.

I hope you're enjoying the FF7 remake! My friends, who grew up with the original, have been raving about it.

"I've already accepted that it'll take me literal years to work through his filmography at this rate."
It looks like you're in the same boat I am with Gintama.

"And speaking of Ghibli, what made you watch My Neighbors the Yamadas of all films?"
My Neighbors the Yamadas has been on my to-watch list for a long time precisely because it’s so different from the rest of Ghibli's output, both in terms of form and content. I’m glad I finally got around to watching it. One day I'll fill the other gaps in the Ghibli filmography. Except for Earwig though, because literally what is that thing?

Now that I think of it, I've watched very few anime films lately. Are there any films from the last 10 years you would recommend, besides the obligatory Shinkai output?

That story about the author of NHK isn’t too surprising - even in adapted form, it certainly came off like a rather personal work, or at least an informed and thoughtful perspective. It’s also interesting (and tragically ironic) to hear about the parallels between the circumstances enabling a hikikomori lifestyle for in-series characters, and the author himself following the book’s success. Hope he’s indeed reached a better place in life by now.

I’ll keep Diebuster on my radar; I’ve previously just heard a few accounts of people either severely disappointed by it, or who thought it was fine, but a short series with fun visual/action spectacle is something I’d be willing to give a shot.

Given my experience with Monster so far, I’d absolutely be up for more of Urasawa’s work! 20th Century Boys is actually on my manga readlist... whenever I finally get around to that whole thing lol.

After some deliberation, I ended up pivoting to the 0079 movie trilogy starting with the 2nd film. And honestly, the switch was probably for the best in my case. I do agree that there’s some over-truncation at points; there were more than a few missing scenes that I was surprised got cut (even one or two that might have left me confused if I hadn’t seen the TV series for context, or that made certain moments feel a touch unearned). But there were far more cuts that, speaking personally, I didn’t miss, and even a few reworked scenes that I preferred in the movie version. The more consistent plot momentum also meant I also didn’t mind the lackluster visuals nearly as much. Overall I found it a way more watchable experience, and it’s actually renewed my enthusiasm about continuing! It’s a huge relief to feel that.

And don’t fret, I wasn’t going to let 0079 struggles turn me off the entire Gundam franchise. I know there’s lots of great stuff there, once this initial barrier to entry is broken. :)

As for 2024 games, my radar is definitely quieter as well, but there’s a handful of stuff I’m keeping an eye on. Some conceptually interesting-looking projects like They Are Here and Alters, plus several projects from well-known indie teams, like Hades II, Rift of the Necrodancer, and Rise of the Golden Idol. Hypothetically, Silksong could also release this year, but I’m not getting my hopes up at this point, haha.

I definitely liked NHK, and at certain points loved it! The only thing is that some parts, mostly during the last quarter or so, didn’t sit as well with me compared to the rest of it. Plot threads resolved abruptly with under-earned resolutions, or just left vaguely dangling never to be followed up on, and character work that didn’t seem as consistent or grounded as before. Still, I found the series overall well worth a watch for the main character alone; as the first anime I’ve seen to take the concept of a hikikomori seriously, they knocked it out of the park with Satou! The show didn’t pull punches with his depiction, even when it was being darkly comedic. Yet said depiction felt nuanced, well-defined and humanized, with a wonderful, steady sense of development over the course of the series. I felt like I had a detailed understanding of both him and each of his decisions, no matter how much they broke my heart or made me wince at times. I can only imagine the impact it could have if one resonated with his life situation or struggles - even with that personal connection being less current for me, I still had to just stop and step outside for a breather after the emotional intensity of certain episodes! Those big moments gave the entire series staying power.

As for other series, I had a fantastic time with Gunbuster for many reasons, but a big one is that it might be the best-paced mini series I’ve seen! It amazed me how many big, dramatic payoffs they crammed into just 6 episodes with none of them feeling rushed, undeserved, or lacking time to sink in!

Monster too has been great thus far, but also a dense, heavy watch where I want to take my time and fully absorb each episode, given how seemingly small, one-off details can suddenly take on huge relevance later!

I was enjoying Vinland Saga, but just got very busy/distracted around the time I stopped; I might even need to restart the series at this point with how long it’s been, but I don’t mind at all.

Gundam 0079, though... to be honest, I’m finding it a little hard to get through. I respect its legacy and I will finish it to open the door to other Gundam entries, but as its own show, it just hasn’t connected with me as I’d hoped. I like it when it’s focused on worldbuilding or character payoffs, but that’s been somewhat sparse in favour of dry weekly skirmishes with hit-or-miss tension, which I suspect will continue a little while longer. Given this emphasis on action, the shoestring animation really doesn’t do the series favours - even for the time it looks rough. Numerous distracting background mistakes, plus weightless motion making all these war machines feel more like plastic toys smashing together. It all just doesn’t have the impact or immersion factor it seemingly wants to, despite some decent ideas to work with. Regardless, it’s not a terrible show, just... a lot more boring to me than expected, so I’ve had to take it slow.

Classics aside, it’s good to hear there’s still noteworthy stuff in current anime releases, even if it might take me some time to get around to any of it. What can I say - 2023’s games have kept me busy as well!

hey bro i just got recommended the after the rain video you made back in 2018, it was really touching, thanks for making it <3

“Hah, that’s basically the Alan Wake review I was expecting” - oh no, I’m getting predictable! What if I lose my edgy contrarian hipster aura?!

Jokes aside, I really appreciate all the advice! Sounds like I’ll just seek a summary of the Alan Wake DLC, and possibly play Control, though I’m still undecided. Regardless, I’ll definitely continue to AW2 at some point. I get the sense I’ll enjoy it more than the first, and it’s nice to hear that it’s an improvement to some extent on both the gameplay and story fronts.

Changing the subject completely, how’s the anime viewing been lately? I've done more of that as of late, but am completely out of the loop on current stuff, with pretty much just Frieren on my radar. Instead, I’ve been watching several classics and fondly-remembered titles, which has been going very well! Just one good experience after another, with Monster (so far) and Gunbuster being particular highlights.

"my wife and I both feel that phone etiquette in theaters has gotten noticeably worse since the pandemic"
I know what you mean. The last time I went to the movies, the guy in front of me took out his phone and snapped pics of the screen at several emotionally-charged moments. And it wasn't some kid, it was a senior, who should know better.

"As always, it’s intriguing to see what you pick up in a season."
It is? Were you expecting me to pick up Gekkan Mousou Kagaku? It's kind of like Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy . . . but not nearly as funny.

"I'm ready for the next sixteen seasons [of 100 Girlfriends]."
Haha, I guess you can't always judge a show by its title.

I’m a sucker for reference-based humor, but the moment that sold me on 16bit Sensation was when it was revealed what game Konoha was working on: “Milf Salon Hypnosis”. It’s not just shovelware; it’s shovelware with pretty rancid overtones. And I can’t help but feel like that sort of material is proliferating in anime, as well. Unfortunately, as I've seen more of 16bit, I'm starting to find the two lead characters mildly irritating. My opinion of Fern and the other characters in Frieren has continually improved, however.

"It hurts… it hurts for some of my favorite series to be used as a punching bag"
Haha, even I winced a bit when he said that. And after all that, the consensus my friends came to for our next group viewing was "let's just rewatch some Inuyasha". But I'm glad you enjoyed the ending of AoT!

Seems like the Boy and the Heron has been fairly polarizing. And just as I was about to ask if you're still going through Dezaki's works, I see you've seen Rose of Versailles since I last spoke to you. Yeah, once you can look past that 70s shoujo melodrama, it is great.

You became a DM right off the bat, with no previous experience? That's quite a vote of confidence from the other players.

I don’t have much more to add about Outer Wilds - guess I got all my essential thoughts out in my last comment. Once again, what you’ve said about your varying degrees and forms of emotional investment makes sense.

As for Alan Wake, I do fully intend to continue to the 2nd game, despite my hangups with the first. I largely played it in preparation for the sequel anyway, though the experience does have me torn on whether to try any of the spinoffs/DLC, including the Alan Wake DLC in Remedy’s later game Control.

I was actually pretty into Alan Wake at first, but my interest followed a steady negative trajectory over the course of the game. By far the biggest factor for this was the gameplay. I will say the flashlight concept was interesting on paper; sure, it’s effectively just a different type of gun with battery ammo that you need to point at enemies before you point all your other guns at them, but the fact that you could also focus the flashlight to briefly stun some enemies added an extra layer of threat management that was interesting for a while. in the end though, the lack of meaningful enemy variety or other shakeups led to nearly every encounter blurring together. There were a few exceptions like the first encounters with different possessed objects, or ones incorporating environmental lights, but overall, I came away feeling like most of it was just busywork to inflate the game’s runtime. The repetitive nighttime woods setting and atmosphere didn’t help this monotony (it’s a well-done ambiance, just loses its effect over time due to its near constant presence).

Story-wise, things fared somewhat better, though I still hoped for a little more given such an interesting premise.

I guess when it comes to mastery, optimization, level rankings and so on, the main deciding factor for whether/how much I’ll indulge in doing so is just whether the process seems fun, engaging or otherwise worthwhile in and of itself. Assuming this is the case, then having critical content being locked behind such things can be a positive. But if not, then I’d honestly prefer it just be purely for achievement/bragging rights so I can just decide for myself to skip it, than having to choose between doing hours of something unengaging versus missing out on a game’s best material (or the ending of its story). I suppose that’s a risk with any game though; there’s no way to guarantee that content will appeal to every type of player. There are certainly ways to broaden it without sacrificing identity, but running too far in that direction can lead to unfocused, milktoast games with a bloated list of entirely skippable, formulaic and disposable mechanics and story beats. This in and of itself is something many dislike, or are increasingly tired of... which sort of defeats the whole purpose of trying to appeal to absolutely everyone.
As for your friend min-maxing RPG bosses, I might not do that specifically, but I would and have been down for various “challenge run” replays that run against a game's intended design, assuming I expect them to interestingly alter the experience. Something like a gliderless run of Zelda: TotK, if I were to replay it - something that could push me to explore and leverage the extensive potential of the game’s systems in ways that a standard first playthrough didn’t.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Outer Wilds! I’m glad you had a good time with it. I agree with most of what you’ve written, so I’ll try to keep this semi-succinct, keyword being “try” lol.

happy new year!