I’d say “when did this become an incoherent list of what I’m reading / watching / playing” but… see above
Finished Dear Brother, a.k.a. Oniisama-e. Very glad I watched it; there are a host of reasons why it’s a stone cold classic. And all of my opinions beyond that are a) nearly incoherent, b) mostly about the end and therefore spoilery, and c) with full knowledge that it was a product of its time.
Apparently “Stay strong!!” was a meme on Twitter, but the moment that made me cackle was this: (heavily paraphrased)
Butler: How is your BFF’s wedding planning going, sir?
Rich Shady Guy: It’s going well, Jeeves.
Butler: Is the bride hot?
RSG: Stone cold fox, Jeeves. [uh, she’s in high school but moving on]
Butler: Hotter than your sister, sir?
RSG: *makes solid eye contact, slowly drinks orange juice* …
WHAT
despite all appearances this is not that kind of show
also this is the last episode what are you doing
jeeves, you’re fired
a+ response though, RSG
Otherwise the ending was…. … … … … as expected for the era, I’ll leave it at that. They didn’t do Mariko dirty. Or Tomoko. (My spouse noted, walking in and out through the second half of this show, that Tomoko appears to be a Miyazaki heroine stranded in the wrong show. I see it.)
And that’s something. I mean, we’ve come a long way as a planet. It paved the way for a lot of other stories after it, including one of my favorites. I enjoyed it immensely and I plan to buy the Blu-Ray before the license expires, because I’ll have to if I ever want to watch it again in my lifetime.
After finishing that, I spun up something that looked light and fun, and so far, is: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
I have yet to complete a modern isekai anime. I got one season into Ascendance of a Bookworm and liked it okay, but kind of noped out once it got past the “detailed peasant life / crafty competence porn” phase and into the “magical tuberculosis / church politics” phase.
Villainess has been on my radar since it aired — spring 2020, so three hundred thousand years ago in perceived time — and yep, it seems like my jam so far. Funny but not via “GET IT? IT’S A REFERENCE”, doing some interesting things with its premise (so… “winning” means “stealing” this random girl’s boyfriend/fiance, let’s… unpack that for a minute), unconcerned with adolescent male power fantasy, default bisexuality apparently, FARMING which I didn’t even know was in it, an idiot heroine with a heart of gold who makes friends with all the other girls in the story because she’s not a cardboard sociopath, and sure, pretty clothes.
I watched three episodes over the course of a Saturday. Pretty hooked. We’ll see how it goes.
Games, still working on Earthbound. I’m in the… Deepest Darkness? Darkest Deepness? Darkitydarkdarkness. The Switch’s NES/SNES emulator’s quick-save function is essential. I don’t care if this makes me “spoiled by modern games” or something. I want to play a game as long as I want to play it, and then stop. I don’t think that’s too much to ask. I can stick a bookmark into a book and put it down. I can stop a movie/show (outside a theater) and finish it later. You aren’t the boss of me.
Writing, actually… it’s about time to see if I’m able to start editing book 3. I’ve been doing this thing with Strangers (side project) where I outline a chapter or two ahead, write it, outline, write, outline, write. I feel like a Looney Tunes character, painting a bridge I’m standing on into existence as I go. It’s tiring. I ought to know where this story is going, big-picture. Of course, that’s a “should”, and as long as the story gets done, it doesn’t really matter. But if it’s unnecessarily tiring and can be done differently, I’ll try that.
And on that note, I’m off.