bookshelf

If you haven't read it, the panels to the left are from this manga. I adore Tsuruta's style, it's loose and unbothered by perfectionism and yet incredibly detailed and realistic. There is almost no line weight or screentone used, relying solely on markmaking. I think it's really beautiful, and I try to emulate it in my own work quite often. I'm nowhere near his level, though.
In terms of the story itself, the plot follows a young woman named Mikura who runs a delivery service for some of Japan's smaller islands, using a small plane to make deliveries. After her grandfather's death, she discovers some disrepancies in a few deliveries, and as a result becomes wholly absorbed in locating an island that seems to wander, hence the name. It is unfortunately unfinished at 2 volumes, both of which seem fairly difficult to get physical copies of, to my continued disappointment. The story and artstyle make for an engaging read, and it's a very free kind of story. Mikura doesn't have many responsibilities, aside from an extremely flexible small business and a pet cat, which she takes with her on flights. Her house is often running out of power as a result of this lifestyle, but it's still very empowering. I loved the looseness of the whole thing, and the mystery of the island.
The only thing I have a disagreement with is the depiction of the main character. She's often drawn with little to no clothing, and since the author is a much older man I take a little issue with it. It seems to be a trend in his works, as well, skinny identical girls who care little about covering up. However, reading it at 16 felt very freeing. Despite the indecency, it's not focused on, and sex is never discussed or come close to at all. It sort of felt like just another of those freeing aspects I was talking about, in line with being able to leave at a moments notice with only the barest essentials. It felt more like her relaxing and being uncaring of the male gaze, her confidence; if you will. I don't know if anyone else would agree, but I envy her lifestyle nonetheless.

(Wandering Emanon and Memories of Emanon).
Man, does Tsuruta ever finish his works? Sorry, that's a bit rude; I'm mainly just disappointed I can't read more of his works. Maybe the original light novels were never finished, I haven't looked into it.
In any case, this is what I was talking about with Wandering Island. Emanon is such an interesting character, each version of her a continuation of the previous rather than the typical immortal creature. The coninued nude scenes are less interesting. I can look past the typical, she's-in-a-black-void-and-clothes-are-irrelevant, but it continues outside of that, this time in the prescence of other characters. She seems completely uncaring, which I suppose is not out of character, being someone who sees humans as simply a continuation of evolution rather than a superior or even relevant species. It just kind of gives me the ick. She's basically perpetually 17, or at least looks like it.
Regardless, this manga is an enjoyable and very introspective read with even more stunning visuals from Tsuruta. More sci-fi fanstasy than you would expect.

We had to read this novel for my final year of highschool. Being required reading, everone disliked it. Except, ah, me. Shirley Jackson has quickly become one of my favourite authors, despite only having read this and a few short stories of hers (The Lottery, Summer House, and After You, My Dear Alphonse, as of writing this). Everything she writes has an air of awkwardness, of underlying tension... something bad will happen, and you cannot stop the characters from causing said bad thing.
WHALitC in particular is about two sisters and their disabled uncle living in a house set apart from their small town and wholy alienated from it because of the tragic poisoning of their family a few years ago, of which the elder sister Constance was accused and aquitted. Over the course of the story the clearest theme that stood out to me was the relationship between Constance and her younger sister, the protagonist Mary Katherine (or Merricat, as she is nicknamed). Constance is agoraphobic, meaning she has a dreadful fear of the world outside of the Blackwood family house and any sort of socialisation outside of her family. Merricat on the other hand is something of a sociopath, and despite the fact that it was Constance that was accused of the murder, either of the sisters had clearly been capable because of the strong bond between them that obviously absolved the other of whatever wrongdoing the rest of the family had been guilty of. I found it very engaging reading about the two psycopath's (affectionate) navigation of their world that so wholly dispised them. I wrote a very highly scoring essay on the subject, in fact, and know an unholy amount of background knowledge on Jackson herself.

Welcome to the dungeon, a rather overused and isekai-branded setting that has become cliche simply because it is easier to reuse it that do some acutal, interesting worldbuilding. Here are some adventurers, heading into the depths of the dungeon in search of riches and glory... wait, what?
That was basically my introduction to this manga/anime series. I watched the anime first, actually I skipped a few episodes... The artstyle was amazing and it was very well animated, but I was under the mistaken impression that it was just another DnD-inspired anime world. I was SO incredibly wrong, you have no idea.
Delicious in Dungeon, or Dungeon Food as the direct translation, is set in an incredibly well-crafted world, starring beautifully individual characters, with quite honestly one of the best commentaries on food and meals in general I have ever seen.
The general premise is that a small party of adventurers has been teleported out of the dungeon after losing a member to one of the lower-level bosses, the red dragon. Two members quit, but become relevant later (no character is ever really forgotten) and a third joins their party on the first floor when the remaining members are forced to start over if they want any chance at saving their deceased member. Honestly, there's so much I could say about this manga, that has kind of already been said by many tumblr users... the antithesis depiction of a catgirl, the clearly autistic main character and his remarkably similar and yet inexplicably more well-liked sister (seriously, the only thing really different is that Falin is a girl, and has been socialised as such), Marcille just in general, the magic systems, the concept of revival (what allows it to occur and how it affects the person and their body), the incredibly detailed worldbuilding of both the world it's set in and the dungeons themselves (how they form, who/what they are controlled by, the creatures inside, the ecosystem inside), the food and themes around sharing a meal and just,, ahh,,,, I could go on. Once I realised how much love Ryoko Kui had really put into her story, I devoured the rest of the series in record time and then the manga as well. It very quickly became one of my favourite pieces of media in general and I highly encourage anyone reading this review to stop, search up the manga, and read it right now. On that note...

I discovered I was on both the aromantic and asexual spectrums at about 15 years old. It was pretty early to have such a large revelation, though I suppose it saved me from a more uncomfortable realisation further down the line... Regardless, I am aroace. I have a very limited span of attraction, and this made connecting with my peers a little... lonely. I don't have anyone I can talk about this with that will really understand. As such, I turned to books. I knew Oseman had written a book starring an aroace character because of the general interest in her far more popular series, Heartstopper, which I have not and do not intend to ever read. I picked up Loveless, rather suprisingly, at my local bookstore and read it, I believe, in one sitting. That's not really any indication of its quality, mind you.
Loveless stars Georgia, a young woman starting college away from family and disconnected from her friends... (they're in another boarding house, I believe). She's basically on her own for the first time in her life and looking to date someone, as she's never done so before. It's basically her journery of discovering her aroace identity through quite a bit of trial and error. Her roommate, Rooney, becomes a close friend along this journey, and (spoilers) ends up both dating Georgia's best friend, Pip, but also becoming Georgia's queer-platonic partner towards the very end. It wasn't well written and lacked alot of the subtlety I tend to lean towards, but was honestly a purely self-indulgent read, as someone who doesn't have a lot of representation out there. It's got pride of place on my bookshelf just for that. It was also really nice to read as someone who only recently discovered their sexuality, and I've actually recommended it to a few people looking to learn more about being aroace.

If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli, you've probably watched the movie, but I urge you to read the book as well. Miyazaki took the characters in the book and tied off their arcs unsatisfactorily and focused instead on the war, which is less focused on in the book and comes into play later in the story than the movie entails. It's also less steampunk. Aside from that, the romance is much more interesting and fun to read in the novel. I read somewhere that the book was from Sophie's point of view, which is true, and the movie is from Howl's point of view; which made me laugh, because it kind of is. It tells his tragic backstory without actually telling you the embarrasing details (he keeps a guitar despite not knowing how to play as he thinks it looks cool) or listing all his ex-situationships (because he leaves as soon as they catch feelings). It also goes into far more detail about the side characters. Miyazaki aged down Michael and removed his adorable side romance with one of Sophies sisters, and the subplot of the sisters themselves (yes, there were two, instead of one like in the film), and the Witch of the Waste plays a much bigger role. It was a very well-rounded plot with engaging magical aspects and excellent plot twists. My prior knowledge of having watched the film confused me, actually; since so much was different. It helps to forget a lot of the movie's plotlines as Miyazaki combined a lot of them, and a lot of characters.

(Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, Goldenhand, Clariel, Terciel and Elinor, Across the Wall)

My mother read this when she was around my age, maybe younger. It's about a fifteen year old girl getting involved in magic and sea monsters and entangled with three seperate 17-year-old love interests. I thought the age gap was a little strange, the boy in my year dating a fifteen year old coming to mind and the way me and my friends gossiped about him, but my mother argued it was a slightly different time and besides, it's all fiction anyway. This book was very much a dreamy, wistful sort of thing, the relationship overlooked in favour of the romance. I liked the description of the sea monster and that Peri ended up with someone well-adjusted and interesting rather than the gloomy main love interest or his illiterate brother. I would read a second book about her and the magician. They reminded me in part of Sophie and Howl.

I read these series when I was younger as it was my father's favourite novels. They aren't particularly good or well-thought out, but they are more of a comfort read and I can get through them very quickly. The plot centers around a young boy called Garion, who grows up throughout the first series and by the second is a little more competent. Garion is the subject of a very old and very specific prophecy, which dictates where he goes, when, and what he does once he gets there. The writing style is very matter-of-fact and there is no room for metaphor or nuance, but that makes it an easy read. If you can get past the prophecy that basically tells you how the series ends and the misogynistic undertones, you can read it and feels as though you have gone back to your childhood when you could devour books at an alarming rate. My favourite character is Ce'Nedra, as she is pretty and annoying, but I can understand her as she is forced into this against her will. The main themes of the series are sorcery and the prophecy itself. The magic system works on a principle called the Will and the Word, where you exert your will and say a word. It's very intrinsic to the universe of the novels and ties in well to the story of the world's creation, as it's limitation is that you can never unmake anything, because the universe dislikes that (the universe is the mother of all the gods; and each god has claimed their own part of the world. A lot of the series relies on travel to keep you entertained; the characters are constantly moving and collecting people and introducing you to another country or part of the world). There are other magic systems, like witchcraft and demon-summoning, and they are explained also. The world itself is very well-though out, just not the plot or the characters. Each follow a fairly specific trope, and each get coupled off before the series ends. Despite these shortcomings, I've read the series at least twice.

See Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui above.

This movie is my favourite of all time, and I rewatch it annually. Sometimes bi-annually. I own the entire manga set which came with a double-sided poster, three posters besides (one fan-made), the art book for the film, the Watercolour Impressions art book, a little squirrelfox plushie, and know an unholy amount about the film besides. It began as the manga, published in the Animage magazine in Japan, and was Hayao Miyazaki's first completely original work in the industry, having worked on other projects previously but never being the sole creator, as far as I know. Around two years into the monthly publications, in 1984, the film was released. It cut down on a lot of the "excess" lore of the manga, ignored a plethora of characters and even a country or two, and rewrote a lot of scenes. It also only covers about half the manga's story in total. The film was produced in the early days of animation, and so was completely hand-painted with very specific colours (of which I think they had to create brand new ones). If you watch the original japanese audio version on netflix the audio quality takes a significant drop, which I adore. The manga issues continued after the film was completed, and I just have to say, if you watch and enjoy the movie, read the manga as well. It expands on so many topics only briefly touched apon in the movie, quite relevant ones, actually, about humans and their affect on the world and whether or not we get to survive.

On that note, let me very quickly explain the plot. The story is set one thousand years after the fall of humanity, and the surviving people struggle to develop lasting civilisations, forced to migrate to the desolate wasteland situated between the acid seas and a toxic jungle that is steading encroaching on the remaining land. Nausicaa is the princess of a tiny nation nestled in a valley near the acid sea, that funnels the wind through it and avoids the nastiest of the Toxic Jungle's miasma. The Toxic Jungle is a fungus-inspired forest that has basically taken over the earth and kills everything else in its path. Despite this, it's also a source of life, and hosts a thriving ecosystem of bizarre-looking plants and giant killer insects. Nausicaa loves it. She's just kind of amazing. She flies along the wind currents of her home on a small glider called Mehve (which is never actually named in the film) and researches the Toxic Jungle while overseeing her small nation where she is universally loved. There's a lot of conflicts in the film and more in the manga, as two neighbouring, larger countries are going to war and try to drag the Valley of the Wind into their scuffle. It's a mishmash of sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian, and post-apocalyptic genres; and very aesthetic. It mainly discusses the themes of human intervention in evolution and the general affect we have on the world because of our nature. Nausicaa is basically the chosen-one pure-hearted protagonist, except she's suprisingly gritty when it counts (she is a warrior princess, after all) and her endless kindness and trusting nature is phrased as humanity's saving grace rather than a weakness. She understands death as a part of life, and it makes her a really amazing character. It's also my personal headcanon that she's aroace, as she never expresses feelings for anyone in either the film or manga, and in actuality turns down a potential suitor (that could match her weird girl energy, I must add) in favour of remaining in the Valley with her people. I just love this film, through and through.
Also, fun fact. The film released in 1984, a year before Studio Ghibli was formed in 1985!

I had to do a quick search for the director of this one, because I remembered it wasn't Miyazaki. I was half right: it was his son, Goro Miyazaki, that directed it, with Hayao Miyazaki as the writer.
This is one of the Ghibli films I watch when I want to be inspired to do something creative. It's a very motivating film. The main character, Matsuzaki, has so much on her plate and yet she does everything with a sort of quiet wonder, like even though it's all repetitive it's always worth doing. I always feel like picking up a more effective routine after watching this film.

I rewatched this film in the holidays before the start of my second-last year of highschool, and got so inspired I started writing an honest-to-god novel. You may be able to find it on the projects page, but I may have changed my mind before getting to that one, who knows. This film is just so romantic and wonderful. I've watched it in both the original japanese and the english dub, and I have to add there's a little disrepancy between the two. I believe the backstory of the Baron and his relationship to his female counterpart is warped a little in the english dub for whatever reason.

Before I say anything, I'm going to put this youtube link here: Ocean Waves - Studio Ghibli's (Accidental) Queer film and tell you to go watch it, because anything I have to say about this film is just going to be parroting this video. I watched Ocean Waves out of pure desire to have watched every single Ghibli film out there, which I have as of yet not achieved (I'm not sure if I'm purposefully avoiding Grave of the Fireflies or not). It's a simple story, of three characters and the relationships between them. It's my kind of film. However, Rikako was incredibly annoying and the ending didn't make much sense in context of the rest of the film. If you're going to watch it, watch the youtube video afterwards, because it introduced a whole new reading that made the film more engaging, at least to me.

When the majority of Studio Ghibli's films came to netflix, this was one of the first I watched, having not before. I have a friend called Marni, and when she watched it, she couldn't finish it. She told me the reason was that the relationship between Marnie and Anna was too similar to her and I's relationship irl and it really unsettled her. I thought that was kind of sweet.
Ignoring this, I enjoyed the film alot. There was a bit of mystery and a sense of something real and beautiful slipping through your fingers with Marnie's drifting away, and despite, or rather because of her flaws; Anna was a really interesting protagonist. The Priscilla Anne album for the movie is also on my mp3 player. It helps me fall asleep.

My introduction to the works of Satoshi Kon.

Mushishi, or Mushi-shi ('mushi' being spirit-like organisms and 'shi' translating to 'master', I believe), is a slice-of-life (or iyashikei, 'healing genre') starring the ever mysterious Mushi Master Ginko, and depicting his travels around rural, olden-days Japan (the time period is a little vague, Wikipedia tells me it's 'set in an imaginary time between the Edo and Meiji periods, featuring some 19th-century technology but with Japan still as a "closed country"'). Almost every episode is a stand-alone, the conflict being introduced and resolved in around 20 minutes, and the stakes are never all that high, so it's very relaxing to watch and I tend to pick out a single episode I'm in the mood for and ignore the rest. There's two seasons of around 20 episodes, and a movie. It's based off a manga, which I have read, but I have to say the manga fleshes out the story a lot more as the manga chapters are very short. It also shuffles around some of the little arcs to make the whole thing flow better. Most of the characters are irrelevant, as they only appear for one episode and then are gone, and there are only two main reocurring characters; Ginko and the Doctor/Collector; a friend of Ginko's and someone he visits more that once throughout the series. The Doctor's appearance defining trait is his monocle, but Ginko has completely white hair and bright blue eyes. Waow, anime protagonist alert. Actually he's pretty adorable:
and suprisingly attractive. This is coming from someone who doesn't normally feel attraction. Who said he was attractive? Not me. Anyways.
The anime just does a better job pacing-wise, and as there's only really one character to get attached to, it's a good low-stakes show that I come back to fairly often when I just want to watch something to wind down. The worldbuilding and lore around the mushi is also really interesting. It's the only supernatural element of the world, everything out of the ordinary can be explained through little guys that only some people can see but are everywhere and intrinsic to life itself. They have crazily different appearances and features, but the story does a good job of displaying them simply as organisms. None are malicious, just living creatures that seek to survive. Some may be more dangerous to deal with, but that's more just their nature than any sort of conscious will.

I love when basically the equivalent of fanfiction becomes its own entire franchise. Pluto is a sci-fi mystery series based on the original Astro Boy comics, which was written for children. Pluto is not for children. The main premise is that someone (or something) is murdering the most advanced robots in the world. But who? And why? The main protagonist is a more everyday-level robot detective named Gesicht who is tasked with discovering the perpetrator. I say everday-level; he really is very high tech but I believe the difference is his creator is less well-known. We meet some recognisable characters along the course of the show, like Professor Ochanomizu and Astro Boy himself, as well as Epsilon who lives in Australia and is voiced by Keith Silverstein. He's photon-powered. Anyways
Despite centering around androids and Artificial Intelligence, the story kind of sidesteps any commentary it could have made and instead focuses on the mystery and the characters, depicting the robots more as humans with something a little extra. It's overall a very interesting show, with a striking artstyle and a well-thought out plotline. Some of the dialogue falls a little flat; I believe it's adapted pretty much exactly to the manga by Heisuke Yamashita and Tatsurou Inamoto, though I haven't read it. I assume this because that's definitely what it feels like, more like actors delivering very specific lines rather than trying to play a realistic character with tics and quirks. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and found myself searching up some of the physics that gets referenced in the final episode out of pure curiousity. It's all real. I read the Wikipedia pages.

Technically I've not finished it yet, since as of writing this only about 2 episodes of season two are out, but I want to write a review nonetheless.
On one hand: it's a shonen, the main characters are a boy and a girl. One is loud and obnoxious but with upstanding morals and the other is quiet and passive who will fight for what they believe in. They fall for each other. One of the main characters has no parents but has an aggressive yet affectionate relationship with their caregiver/mentor. The other main character is more emotionally supportive, and really their only support system is the first main character. There are crazy fight scenes and a talking cat that hangs around the female character like she is a magical girl and they get into stupid trouble and the brash character is often saving/rescuing the softspoken one, the softspoken one is cursed with powers rather than being born with them like the brash character. There is probably quite outrageous fanservice but I'm desensitised and the female character is often in positions where she is close to or being sexually assaulted.
On the other hand: it's a shonen, the main characters are a girl and a boy. Momo is loud and obnoxious and gyaru (she is allowed to be imperfect) and Okarun is passive and quiet and nondescript (he is unbearably polite). They fall for each other. Momo is the one with no parents, and her older primary caregiver/mentor is a woman. The male character is more emotionally supportive, he is the one without the visible support system. There are crazy but realistic (by anime standards) fights and the main characters are constantly leaning on each other from the getgo rather than having to work up to it or explicitely saving one another: Momo is the one saving Okarun most often, the reverse is only true to the degree that once Okarun arrives Momo can rely on him to have her back while she unleashes her full power. The fanservice is there, but Okarun is included in it, and the bodies are drawn realistically instead of overly and obviously sexualised. The talking cat is connected to the male character's transformations and hates them all but helps Momo avoid the worst of the sexual assault and makes sure the perpetrators get at least a little of what they deserve.
It uses cliche ideas and tropes and super popular genres, but all at once. There are aliens but it's not a scifi. Spirits and ghosts but not a mystery or historical drama. Highschool drama but it's not a highschool drama. Romance but not a rom-com. All of them at once. Okarun loses his balls and they become a source of spiritual energy. Momo is in love with an actor with the same name as Okarun (my girl is done for). Okarun unlocks obligatory shonen powers from being cursed with stupid limitations but they were given to him by a talking cat and he has to transform to use them like a magical girl. He gets emo and depressed when he transforms. Momo's powers include grabbing shit and holding things with intangible spirit hands. The two supporting characters, another boy and girl (an even ratio of boys to girls??? in anime??? You could even argue the scale is tipped to the girls side, including Momo's grandma, the talking cat, and Momo's two gyaru friends) are rival love interests (childhood friend and popular girl) and also become characters with transformative powers. The most powerful character in the show is Momo's grandma Seiko, but her powers have limitations (they only apply within the area she maintains ownership over) meaning she may be more powerful but Momo's powers are more applicable. Seiko denies the existence of aliens despite witnessing an alien abduction of a cow. This show is batshit insane.

My favourite game of all time. It's around 10-20 hours to complete the storyline and rack up enough achievements. Normally with games I play through them once and either never again or not for at least a year, but Dredge was so wholly enthralling that I have two saves and at this point mostly just fuck around on either of them. I'm considering opening a third save, just because.
The main storyline is that you're the new local fisherman in a town called Greater Marrow. You can meet and talk to a number of people, including the Lighthouse Keeper, the Mayor, and a few other NPCs that perform tasks for you like buying your fish and fixing your boat. As you level up your fishing boat, you can make your way further and further from the center of the map, and there are four main areas aside from the Marrows, with new and interesting fish species to be caught and new ways to catch them. There's also the constant chance of catching mutated fish. Once you meet the Collector on Blackstone Isle, the game provides you with a specific goal to work towards and once completed, the game reaches its final stage.
I really enjoyed the supernatural horror themes in the game, and the artstyle is one of the best I've seen in game production. It's incredibly stunnung, with looser brushstrokes that are more gestural than is normal for video games. Exploring the map for the first time was one of my favourite aspects. There are so many hidden areas and docks and other features. My favourite area is Twisted Strand. I'm looking to get the DLCs soon, as well. I need more...

My first game from Steam. I love indie puzzle games, despite being somewhat horrible at them.
Chants of Senaar is a language puzzle game. You have woken up in the bottom of a strange tower, and have to find your way up while learning and translating the language of the people around you. There are five levels in total; five languages to learn. Once you've learnt a language, you can share it, and reintegrate the different levels that were previously separated by their langauge barriers. Each level has a sort of theme, as well; the civilisation gradually becomes more sophisticated the higher up you go and the limited colour palette changes. It's interesting to see the ways in which the different societies view each other; the second level views the first as evil and lesser and yet idolises the third level. The third level in turn dislikes the second, and the fourth level views the fifth level's people as fairies or higher beings.
The biggest thing visually about this game is the limited colour palette. Each level uses only a few colours; at least two contrasting ones, and the higher levels use more for other details. It uses 3D graphics, but interestingly, the camera isn't from the players perspective, rather it moves to set positions that are closer or further away from the player to create an interesting effect. A tall building is emphasised by a far-away shot; the player only a few pixels tall, and a dingy staircase is made cinematic by focusing on a scampering lizard instead of the player themselves.
The ending also really stood out to me. I'll try not to spoil, because it's best played completely unaware, but throughout the game I kept getting my disbelief unsuspended (why, amongst all these segragated societies, was I the only one moving between them? Why was I different? Why was my face covered?) mostly I chalked it up to something similar to minecraft. The player is the exception because they have to be in order to play the game. Then I got to the final level and quite a lot of my questions and more were answered. The ending was also just really good, like, in general. I don't know that I can say any more without major spoilers, but... it's good. It really makes you rethink the game itself, and all of the lead-up to the final level. I'd also encourage anyone playing to try and unlock all the achievements, even if you have to search them up to do so. Some of them are just like 'pet the cat', and others are more enlightening as to the story's worldbuilding.

I haven't reached perfection, but I've played enough of the game to know almost everything about it. My longest save sets me into year 7, and really the only thing left to actually reach perfection is just to grind it out. I've unlocked everything else and completed all the storylines. It's one of those games that you pick up and become obssessed with for a week or two and then the interest fades out. Despite that, there's a lot to unlock and enjoy. I take pride in the fact that my fishing stat is always the fastest to improve when starting a new save.