#Darwin Plus Local

[caymannewsservice]

Study will fill data gap on endangered local sharks

Tagging reef sharks for the new study (photo credit: James Dartnell) (CNS): The Department of Environment (DoE) has secured UK funding for pop-off satellite archival tags to study the movements of Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) in the ocean around the Cayman Islands. Due to their ecological and socio-economic significance to Cayman, all sharks are protected species and are now…

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

In central Chile, not far from where the Andes Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean, a vast swath of pristine wilderness is changing hands under the most unusual circumstances.

Roberto Hagemann, a Chilean businessman who owns the 325,000-acre property, has agreed to sell the land to his longtime adversaries, a band of upstart environmentalists who spent years thwarting his efforts to develop the property.

The price: $63 million.

It is a landmark transaction that will preserve some of the most ecologically significant territory in South America. Known as Hacienda Pucheguin, the property is surrounded by national parks and is cut by wild rivers, forests of ancient Alerce trees and the Cochamó Valley, a cathedral of towering granite walls popular with rock climbers around the world.

The deal is also a case study in modern-day conservation. At a moment when ecologically sensitive lands are under threat around the globe, it takes a unique confluence of legal, financial and political resources — plus a bit of luck — to protect them from relentless development.

The land Mr. Hagemann came to own is almost entirely untouched by humanity. Over the past century, a few hundred settlers established small farms in the area and were granted property rights. For the most part, however, the area was left alone, providing a verdant habitat for pumas, rare Darwin’s frogs and the endangered South Andean deer.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Chilean government proposed building roads through the area. But local residents, opposing the development in an ecologically sensitive area, scuttled the efforts.

Around the same time, the Cochamó Valley developed an international reputation among climbers. With steep granite walls rising thousands of feet above the valley floor, the area was soon being called the “Yosemite of South America,” a reference to California’s rock climbing mecca.

Then in 2007, Mr. Hagemann began buying up the land, piece by piece. He knew that the land was held by more than 200 families, and he saw an opportunity to unite the properties into one parcel that could be used for both tourism and development.

[popradar]

Smorgasburg LA Returns on Sunday, Jan. 14 with New Vendors

House of Empanadas joins Smorgasburg LA on Sundays. | Photo courtesy of Smorgasburg LA.

The open air food market Smorgasburg LA returns to ROW DTLA on Sunday, Jan. 14, ushering 2024 with new food vendors.

Basket Taco Co. The tacos de canasta features traditional fillings, including beans, potatoes, and chorizo, plus more modern specials like lobster. Battambong BBQ Long Beach-based chef and pitmaster Chad Phuong (the “Cambodian Cowboy”) melds Texas Style BBQ with Southeast Asian flair (influenced by his Cambodian roots). Glad Chef Cihan Kaymakcalan's Glad, reimagines Nancy Silverton’s famous Focaccia di Recco with the chef’s Eastern European roots.

HGG Tanghulu HGG Tanghulu specializes in candied fruit skewers — aka tanghulu — the traditional Chinese street food snack.

House of Empanadas Try Puerto Rican staples including more than over 40 different empanadas.

Kavahana Kavahana is the first and only vendor specializing in all natural kava drinks in Los Angeles. Kava is a cultural drink that has been enjoyed for more than 3,000 years in the South Pacific and Hawaii. Miya Miya Shawarma Chef Yaz and team are privileged and excited to serve traditional shawarma made with spices and equipment imported directly from Jordan.

Rice Gang by Moom Maam With Rice Gang by Moom Maam Darwin Win experiments with flavor combos and innovative toppings for Thai street food bowls, such as Japanese curry rice made with beef cheeks, and topped with katsu, karaage and more. Softies Sam Hong and Josh Kim's Softies "respects the tradition of the classic Oklahoma style burger" while also offering their own takes such as the egg topped breakfast burger, a potato stick topped steak frites burger and tempura fried enoki topped shroom burger.

Taste of the Pacific Taste of the Pacific specializes in Filipino-style dishes including bbq skewers and lumpias. Other items include sweet and saucy fried shrimp and grilled Korean short ribs.

Smorgasburg LA ROW DTLA 777 S. Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90021 Free entry, Local Craft Beer and Micheladas, No Pets Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

— Christine N. Ziemba

[thecreaturecodex]

Tatane

"The Gaunt Man" © deviantArt user "Doomsplosion", accessed at their gallery here

[It's a monster from Easter Island! AKA Rapa Nui, to give it its local name. I discovered this monster on bestiary.us, a Cyrillic website that does a good job of covering a lot of sources obscure in English with... mostly competent Google translate coverage. The stuff about them flying like whirlwinds and courting humans in disguise (very common spirit/fey/otherworldly people behavior) comes from The Mystery of Easter Island, which is conveniently in the public domain.]

Tatane CR 4 NE Monstrous Humanoid This being could be almost human, if not for its skeletal thinness and exaggerated facial features. It wears little clothing, and carries a club and a brace of short spears.

The tatane are human-like creatures notable for their skeletal forms and their mastery over air. Tatanes usually live near beaches on islands, where they get most of their food through fishing and harvesting the other bounties of the sea. In order to reach difficult prizes, or when raiding their neighbors, a tatane can transform into a living whirlwind, although it can only assume this form for short periods. This also helps them to pass through walls and doors, as they can squeeze through tiny cracks.

Most tatanes are evil in nature, believing in a self-centered version of social Darwinism. Weakness is to be punished and strength and cunning rewarded. Their leaders are often divine casters, such as druids or clerics, that exploit their lessers in order to ensure their own comfort and pleasure. A tatane is close enough to humans in appearance that, as long as they wear clothing that hides their ribcages and bony limbs, they can pass as a human. Some tatanes enter human civilization as spies or thieves, and some subset of those fall in love with the culture and stay behind. The children of a human and a tatani are fully human, although they usually are unusually thin and may have an affinity for air magic.

Tatane     CR 4 XP 1,200 NE Medium monstrous humanoid (air) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +10 Defense AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +3 natural) hp 39 (6d10+6) Fort +3, Ref +8, Ref +5 DR 5/bludgeoning Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee masterwork club +9/+4 (1d6+3) or slam +8 (1d6+3) Ranged javelin +9 (1d6+2) Statistics Str 14, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 12 Base Atk +6; CMB +8; CMD 21 Feats Alertness,Flyby Attack,Skill Focus (Survival) Skills Disguise +6,Fly +11 (+19 in elemental form), Perception +10, Sense Motive +3, Stealth +15, Survival +11, Swim +10; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth Languages Auran, Common SQ elemental form Ecology Environment warm and temperate coasts Organization solitary, pair, band (3-6 plus 0-2 3rd level rangers) or village (7-24 plus 50% noncombatants, 1-8 3rd level rangers and 1 5th level cleric or druid) Treasure standard (masterwork club, 3 javelins, other treasure) Special Abilities Elemental Form (Su) As a standard action, a tatane can transform into a form like that of an air elemental, or revert to its normal form. In elemental form, it gains a fly speed of 50 feet (perfect), and gains immunity to bleed, critical hits and sneak attack. It can also move through cracks and crevices as if under the effect of a gaseous form spell. The tatane loses its damage reduction during this time, and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls made with manufactured weapons. A tatane can remain as an air elemental for as many minutes as its Hit Dice, and can divide these minutes up as it sees fit.

[the-essex-serpent-tv]

The Essex Serpent review — Claire Danes falls for Tom Hiddleston in a gripping gothic drama

Superstition and suspicion fuel Apple’s series about a village panicked by Essex’s answer to the Loch Ness Monster

The year is 1893 and panic has gripped the residents of Aldwinter on the coast of Essex, south-east England. Fishermen have had their boats rocked and their nets shredded; a small earthquake has split a house in two. Now a teenage girl has gone missing, last seen by her younger sister out on the marshes collecting eels. 

 The locals say a serpent has been unleashed on them as punishment for their sins, and have taken to hanging skinned moles outside their homes as protection. But their fears are dismissed by the local rector, Will Ransome (Tom Hiddleston), who has no time for the occult and who growls “There is no serpent” five times in the first hour for those snoozing in the stalls. 

Adapted from Sarah Perry’s award-winning novel, Apple’s gripping if sometimes overwrought gothic drama sees science pitted against religion, reason against superstition. Amid the rising tensions appears Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes, complete with flawless English accent), a newly widowed Londoner who, after years spent at the mercy of her abusive older husband, has cast off her corset and is ready for adventure. 

A Darwin fangirl and palaeontology nerd, Cora is so taken by the idea of Essex’s answer to the Loch Ness Monster that she rents a cottage on the marshes in the hope of catching a glimpse. Instead, she gets an eyeful of the rector, whom she first spots hauling a sheep out of the mud and who she gamely assists, wading into the soup in her Victorian finery. Giving Fleabag’s hot priest a run for his money, Ransome similarly allows his eye to wander, despite his marriage to the kindly, consumptive Stella (Clémence Poésy). Clémence Poésy plays Stella Ransome 

The Essex Serpent contains multiple love triangles: while Cora finds herself simultaneously enraged and inflamed by Will, Frank Dillane’s dynamic London surgeon, Luke, is so entranced by Cora’s nonconformist ways that he follows her to the coast and throws her a party.­ Meanwhile, Cora’s maid, Martha (Hayley Squires), is clearly carrying a torch for her mistress. But, in a plot that echoes everything from Lake Placid to the legend of the Kraken to the story of Eve, it’s the serpent that forms the series’ backbone. 

It’s no coincidence that Perry set her tale of collective dread in Essex, site of the 16th-century witch trials. Director Clio Barnard (The Arbor, Ali & Ava) makes the most of the marshland, rendered wild and spectral by the ever-present fog, while earthy, candlelit interiors contribute to the feeling of foreboding. Fear of the beast soon spreads to the village school where children start fainting and falling mute, and a man is found dead in the reeds. 

What will this mean for the outsider Cora, a woman without a husband and a strange scar on her neck to boot? The blood of our lovestruck protagonists runs hot, but the fear they stir up is chilling. 

★★★★☆ On Apple TV Plus from May 13

Financial Times

[yunoteru4ever]

Are there other Anime(Series & Movies) that's similar to Mirai Nikki?

I guess that depends on what you're looking for specifically... but I'll try to address a broad swatch of possibilities.

Personally, I don't want a series that's TOO similar - but I enjoy elements of similarity, y'know?

For example: Darwin's Game is a manga/anime centered around people who get trapped in a survival game centered around their cell phones. The main duo consist of a good-hearted/well-meaning teenage guy (Kaname) and a ruthless teenage girl who comes from an elite local family (Shuko). Said girl is obviously the much more agile (and brutal) fighter, making her the more feared competitor in their alliance. She's skilled with blades, and winds up becoming the unlikely love interest to the well-meaning boy at the center of things - in spite of the obvious fact that only one of them is supposed to be able to win the survival game, which should inherently mean their alliance is doomed.

But, see... I lost interest in this series pretty early on. Shuko is a little too Yuno without bringing the same interesting psychology - she's all the strengths with zero of the weaknesses, which feels like a downgrade. And, not to sound like Yuno, but the survival game is whitewashed and weirdly bloodless most of the time (people sort of digitize/pixelate out of existence?). Furthermore, Kaname feels bland without ever feeling relatable or sympathetic to me - he's good-hearted, sure, but he's also intelligent and consistently calm and rational no matter what faces him, like he's almost somebody’s overreaction to Yuki’s relatability. And the result is that I found Kaname boring.

I should probably give that series a second chance, but the point is that my initial reaction was “miss me with that shit.” I don't want something that feels like somebody's "Mirai Nikki Rewrite" fanfic, y’know? But I enjoy plenty of manga/anime that share certain elements with Mirai Nikki/Future Diary.

To that end:

I've mentioned before how the relationship at the core of Dusk Maiden of Amnesia is similar to the core relationship between Yuki and Yuno. DMoA also does that thing that Mirai Nikki does where it swings between gory darkness and off-kilter comedic antics without even flinching. It definitely starts on the lighter end, but the darkness just keeps ramping up as it progresses. Plus the manga and the anime, while quite similar initially, wind up taking different enough paths that both are worth looking into! Definitely my highest rec if you liked Yuno and Yuki’s dynamic.

Another one I’ve mentioned in the past is Gleipnir, which manages to remix some of the core concepts of Mirai Nikki in ways that make it feel really different. Our teenage protagonists have a Yuno/Yuki-esque dynamic in many ways — he’s the necessary factor in making them capable of defending themselves, but it’s her who is the aggressive (and maybe a bit unhinged?) fighter — but it’s entirely without the “yandere” aspect.  And there’s no “survival game” per se, although there’s still a type of competition that ultimately results in people killing one another. It’s similarly cynical in its view of the world and human nature, but the roads it takes and the twists it unveils are unique. Unfortunately, both the anime and manga are still unfinished stories at this point... and also unfortunately, there’s a distasteful amount of time spent on providing ecchi of the teenage female lead. 

Speaking of having incredibly cynical views of the world/human nature: BTOOOM! is a very silly title for a pretty intense survival game manga/anime. A bunch of people are thrown onto an island and armed with various types of explosives, then charged with killing one another until one remains. The manga ran for nine years spanning 26 volumes, it’s received a sequel manga that is STILL running, and the anime adaption... yeeeeeah, it’s a scant 13 episodes without any hope of closure in that medium. But it’s still worth the trip, IMO. It helps that the OP is a banger, too. And hey - the lead character is like, not a teenager OR a high schooler! That’s always a welcome change of pace IMO. :P (Like Gleipnir, this one suffers from containing ecchi elements, but at least they’re less frequent focused upon than most manga/anime that contain such things.)

Even though I haven’t tried it for myself yet, I feel like I have to mention Platinum End in some capacity, because everybody by now has talked about how the creator of Death Note followed that massive hit up with something that started out feeling like a Mirai Nikki copycat. If you’re into the basic supernatural underpinnings of Mirai Nikki, I know it’s got a very similar setup that it takes in pretty different directions. 13 people with less-than-ideal psychological backgrounds are made to compete to become god. The leads are even a guy and girl who are purported to be the same age as Yuki and Yuno when the story begins, and one of their early opponents is evidently a self-styled “superhero.” However... there are guardian angels acting on behalf of each candidate, people don’t necessarily have to kill one another (but of course, many choose to do so), and more. There anime is currently running, and it seems likely to tell the entire story from the manga based on its length and progression? But it’s probably too early to be certain. I’ve got to give this one a chance still. 

[thehollowprince]

So I was watching a video on YouTube where the vlogger was talking about making an all black team of X-Men (he also did one for the Justice League and the Avengers) and I sat down, being the huge X-Men fan that I am, and thought to myself, "who would I put on an all black X-Men team?"

First up, we have the obvious, and that's Storm.

An all black team of mutants couldn't not include Storm. It just couldn't. Not only is she an omega level mutant, but she's one of the best team leaders that's ever graced the pages of Marvel comics.

For second-in-command, I went with Bishop.

He's also a reliable leader, but with a completely different set of experiences from his post-apocalyptic future that allows him to look at things from a different angle.

For you all-purpose character, I chose Monet St. Croix.

She's like the Swiss Army Knife of mutants, with the generic superhero powers. She can fly, has super strength and speed, mild telekinetic and telepathic abilities. Jack of all trades type, making her nice and versatile for whatever they would come up against. Plus her Penance form is menacing and deadly.

Next, I chose Gentle as their heavy hitter.

I mean, here's a character that can go toe-to-toe with the Hulk and probably come out on top. He has to have his powers controlled by vibranium tattoos, for crying out loud! He is definitely someone you'd want in your corner in a fight.

Every team should have a teleporter, so enter Manifold.

His teleportation powers are pretty extensive and he doesn't have to see where he's going the way Nightcrawler does. He can also teleport anywhere in this reality, which would be pretty handy to have.

Next I chose Tempo.

I went with her because she's so underutilized in the X-Men comics. I actually voted for her in the the big X-Men vote on the Marvel website. She has the ability to affect and manipulate time in a localized area around her. Would be pretty handy on missions, don't you think?

And finally I went with Darwin.

To this day, I'm still not over them killing him in the First Class movie, because it made absolutely no sense. This is the one character who should survive anything. That's literally his power! He adapts to survive anything.

I was toying with characters like Prodigy, Kymera and Synch, but it felt a little like overkill for two of them (considering Prodigy's and Synch's powers) and the connection between Kymera and her mother would probably interfere with things.

[games7684]

Shepherd 's fate

I heard this story from my father. I want to warn you right away that my father is a serious man and is not capable of fairy tales, and for the time being he was a man who believed only in Darwin's theory and did not recognize anything except scientific facts and evidence. But after this incident, according to him, he became very wary of things related to the otherworldly world, and became a believer, having previously been an atheist. And it all started from his youth.

Then Dad hadn't married yet, he served in the army, studied and now he came to his native village for a vacation. And this village is quite large, far from a couple of houses. The territory - gardens, vegetable gardens, streets, sheds, in some places there was a stable, cowsheds and other houses for livestock. There was also a church of its own near the hill, and a cemetery next to the hill. At first glance, the area is too big for a village, it was even possible to call it a village by modern standards, but earlier the area was persistently called a village, maybe now something has been changed. Dad studied well, tried to thank his parents, because studying somewhere in the city for an ordinary villager is a lot of money and a lot of luck. Parents worked hard at work, not a penny to themselves, everything to their son, to the city, so the child grew up grateful, with almost complete education and came home on leave.

There, in fact, joy, feasts, all old friends gathered at the same table - they began to ask each other what and how is happening, life in the city, whether they like to study. My father has already told everything about himself, he hasn't lied anywhere, he says life is hard, but it would be even harder if it weren't for my parents. He looks around the table and sees that one of his comrades is sitting all pale, haggard, has lost weight, and before he was probably the biggest guy in the village. He was still a hard worker, he had a good "jar" on his hands, it seemed that the bull would rest under his armpit and not even oiknet. And now I've aged about ten years in advance - I don't know. The father, while everyone was chatting, sat down with him, but let's ask, what, they say, are you sitting like a poor relative when smiles are playing on everyone's faces, and emotions are going off the scale beyond the measuring line?

The friend smiled wearily, at first he denied that everything was fine, he was tired at work, but his father knew his friend like all his twenty fingers plus a nail on each, so he immediately realized that the friend was hiding something and stubbornly did not want to talk about it. The guy was breaking down, breaking down, and then he started rattling like that, as if all this information had been sitting in him for a good amount of time, and there was no person to whom he could entrust all this information.

- I know you won't believe me, you'll say that you're overworked and you'll make it even worse. I'm barely holding on as it is, making ends meet," the father just waved off and looked reproachfully at his friend's tired face.

- I won't laugh, who is laughing at the trouble? You spit it out, otherwise I see that something is torturing you, eating you right from the inside. Tell me, it will become easier. Anyway, now everyone is washing my bones, so no one will hear you, even if they really want to.

Indeed, there was a hubbub, laughter, an old tape recorder was talking somewhere, peacefully spinning some pop music, so the friend looked around cautiously and, pulling himself together, said quietly, so much so that his father had to bend his ear lower to hear the words.

"That thing comes in at three sharp. Never makes mistakes and circles around the house.

The father did not understand and looked around the smiling relatives with bewilderment, frowning. He immediately thought that a friend got involved in some bad story, and some local sweatpants and money extortionists go to him, and when he voiced this version, the friend got angry and, casting an angry glance in the direction of the raging grandfather, barked.

- You listen to the rest first! My father nodded understandingly and slumped back in his chair.

- It started about three months ago - I was working as a shepherd then. There was not enough grass, so we had to take the sheep to the hill where the cemetery is. I lay down in the shadow of some monument and dozed off. When I woke up, I was alarmed - there were no sheep - and immediately rushed to look for them. Poked here and there - there are no ungulates, as if they took together, but jumped off a cliff. I decided to go to the owners and lay out everything on garlic, so that they would not say that I hid from them that I had missed the sheep. I came to the house, knocked, the hostess opens the door and asks: "Forgot what?" I didn't understand at first, I said that I had just arrived and the hostess didn't have time to open her mouth, as I told her about the sheep. The woman just laughed and pointed to the barn and said that I came half an hour ago and brought the sheep. She slapped me on the shoulder and left, closing the door in my face. To be honest, I almost sat down on a nickel when I heard that I myself was here thirty minutes ago. When I approached the barn, I saw that the sheep were really all in place - unharmed. I went to the cemetery, because by mistake I left a T-shirt there. I approach and see that this is not a monument, but a grave, only without a fence, and the monument is overgrown all over and it seems as if it is an architectural pedestal, not a tombstone. And sleeping on a grave is a sin. I didn't click trouble, thinking about it, forcing it, and went home," the friend exhaled.

The father, knowing that it is not necessary to be afraid of the dead, but the living are just the same, wanted to smile and say that he would not think about these nonsense once again, but, contemplating the maniacal seriousness on his friend's face, he did not say anything, but the comrade continued.

- I came home, I lit the stove, I made some food, but I'm sitting, drinking tea - the time has passed midnight long ago. I was just about to leave when there was a knock on the door. I stopped, I think, who decided to go to visit so late, but my legs seem to have grown to the floor and I'm standing, not moving. My feet don't want to lead me to the door, but my feelings seem to have sharpened - I stand like a dog listening. There was another knock on the door and immediately all the candles went out, and some kind of chilly breeze blew over me. I don't move and keep listening. I stood there for a minute, and then I heard someone grumbling outside the door, marking time, and tapping gently, lightly, as if with his knuckles. I just stood there, listening. I don't know how much time has passed, but about three hours, as the dawn began to flare up. All sounds stopped. And I just stood there, and only when the roosters crowed could I move from my place - my father listened attentively, never interrupted a friend, only occasionally sipped from a glass. The comrade looked at his father with probing curiosity, saying whether he would laugh or not, but his father, like a true friend, kept patient silence. "And so it has been every day since then," the comrade suddenly finished and, dropping his head on his chin, shuddered either from a sob or from a convulsive sigh. - I can't sleep, but I rarely find time. And I have nowhere else to go, and what kind of fool would run from his own house?

My father got up and, looking at his wristwatch, found that the big hand was already moving by three o'clock in the morning. Putting a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, the father got up and, winking, said.

- Let me intercede for you today? I'll check at the same time, maybe this "creature" will be afraid of me? - the friend did not deny it. Apparently, he was so sick of experiencing this strange visitor every time on his own skin that he did not stop his father. Or maybe he wanted to check if he was crazy and if this stranger was a figment of his imagination.

Taking the keys to the house, the father headed down the familiar streets. The moon was shining on the road, it was easy to walk, you didn't even need to turn on the flashlight, so my father got safely to his friend's house. When he entered the house, the first thing he found was that the house was in a mess. The bed is not made, the dishes are on the table, and things are scattered in disarray in the corners. Apparently, fatigue so overwhelmed the comrade that he could not do anything in the morning, except to lie down for a couple of hours and then go to work. After making himself some tea, the father lit a candle to let on the mystery, put it on the table and began to wait, peacefully sipping tea. The candle had almost burned out, as it was only a stub, and a knock came to my father's ears, and then a slight howling of the wind outside the walls of the house. At first he thought maybe a tree branch hit a barrel on the street, and the sound was so loud or the shutter swung in the wind, but after the knock was repeated, his father became alert. Glancing at his watch, he found that it was already three o'clock in the morning, and the candle immediately went out, as if someone had blown it out. Getting up from his chair, the father moved to the door and stopped opposite, and could not move from his place, exactly as according to the story of a friend. The legs seemed to have become leaden, they could only be moved in the opposite direction, that is, back to the table, so the father did so and almost fell when he heard dissatisfied muttering, heavy snoring and shuffling of legs outside the door. The father, who had never believed in grandmother's stories before, was now shaking like a child from every cautious knock and shuddered when the muttering became angrier, the ends of the "sentences" ended in barks, and the knocks became more insistent.

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Jan 13)

With the snow outside and cancellations everywhere, I have more time to kick back, relax, and not do anything. Seriously, playing out in the snow and being an absolute bum is my specialty.

Dropped

Darwin's Game 

It just seemed like Mirai Nikki but updated to smartphones instead of flip phones and with a new interface and system. Seriously, it’s like someone watched Mirai Nikki and went “I can remake this and rake in the money”. The animation wasn’t good (according to our local sakuga geek, there were less than 10 animators who worked on the 40 min premiere because of the inhumane conditions of the studio which adds to the yikes), the soundtrack was great (but I won’t watch a show just for the soundtrack/seiyuu cast), and overall, I felt like I didn’t want to put myself through a show like this.

Uta no Prince-sama

I couldn’t do it fam. I watched two episodes and nearly cried on the inside because it felt like Kiniro no Corda but with a new bland face with new bland characters. I never watched either of these fully. I tried to watch just for the seiyuu (*ahem* Miyuki Sawashiro), but imagine having your life hobbies made into an absolute joke by a character who can’t even read music and is in the composition department while her main song of choice is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and the ikemen around her and swooning over it and writing their own songs for her. The guys all have the same faces too! They’re triangle heads that can only be differentiated by colour palette. I’m telling the difference based on voices at this point. I don’t want the ikemen, but I would like people to be into my music too ya know! You may think that I’m dropping this anime purely out of spite for the story and characters, and you’re damn right I am. 

Seasonal Stuff

Pet

This is this close to being dropped, and I don’t mean for the strong BL vibes. It’s a little cringy but not that bad (I’ve watched a lot of cringe straight romance and to me it’s all the same). It just feels so poorly constructed right now. The universe just hangs by a thread with characters I feel ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for. Everything in this anime feels so cheap. I’m giving this one more week before I give it the axe.

Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei shitemita 

Okay, this anime is stupid, but we all went in knowing it was going to be very stupid. You’ve seen the screencaps. You’ve seen the cliches. Now get ready to have a pretentious science spin on it as if you haven’t seen these scenes a million times before elsewhere, and the characters (at least one of them) know it. The art... it’s present. I mean, character designs are giving the guys of Reddit what they want (especially with Sora Amamiya being really popular and singing the OP along with voicing the main character). Yuuma Uchida is also there. Nothing really worth noting here except “stay in school kids so you can become a pretentious science kid with no people skills!”

Dorohedoro

I might just watch this anime in place of “Pet” because this anime has a much brighter outlook and despite being CG genuinely looks better anyway. It’s the horror that I wanted to fill the void with (since Pet genuinely isn’t scary or innovative). Everything was pretty good with the first episode! I’m looking forward to seeing more!

From here on out, the rest of the seasonal list are the ones I look forward to the most! Get that head lizardman!

Runway de Waratte 

At first, this doesn’t seem like something that would come out of Shonen Weekly, but it inspires a good message about being who you want to be even with limitations if front of you. You have a girl too short to be considered a model and a guy who designs fashion without having the money to pursue it further. I know nothing about style, but I do know things about being short! Maybe that’s why I have such a soft spot for it...

ID:Invaded

This anime gets more interesting as we go along. I’m all into murder mysteries and things like that, and with the sci-fi mixed it, I checked to make sure I was up-to-date with this one. Each episode gives a new mystery with more details outline our jaded and imprisoned detective’s motives and backstory. I wasn’t sold on the character designs at first, but once you get over that hurdle, it’s all good. I like the psychological aspects of it too!

Kyokou Suiri 

Ever wish you had a female protagonist who was upfront about her romantic motives? Ever wanted to watch a show involving youkai? Here’s the show for you! Plus, her character design is so cute. Mamo sang the ED for this anime too. The animation is great, the story looks amazing (read ahead a few chapters in the manga), and this is one of my most highest anticipated anime for the season!

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

Here’s one of my favourite pilot episodes! This anime left such a strong impression on me that I went straight to my non-otaku friends going, “You’ve gotta see this guys”. The art style is consistent with the manga, and according to the not-so-quiet manga readers, we’re in for a really good anime. 

All the characters in this anime are also adorable and really simple-minded on the surface. Hanako-kun being a boy is a really funny twist on the local urban legend (I’m one of those kids who never dared to say “Bloody Mary” in the washroom so what can I say?)

Recently Completed

Hana to Alice: Satsujin Jiken

Remember Aku no Hana? This is what happens when rotoscoping has a bit more budget. This anime was slow, a little cringy, but it felt really real. The voices felt real, the characters felt real, and the story felt... mostly real. I don’t regret watching this movie art style and all because I think it captures a bit of the exaggerations of being a teenager (rumours blow up like balloons)

Sennen Joyuu

Satoshi Kon really has a certain way of telling stories. I’ve watched Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, and Tokyo Godfathers, and while this didn’t have as strong of a punch as the latter, this film was still strong. It shows a story of a young maiden’s resilience, perseverance, and undying love... all things I can’t relate to... but it was good!

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

This show was a trip. You thought it was a fanservice anime until things got really heavy. This anime was funny, it made me feel things with the themes it took on, and it made me remember that the best girl doesn’t always have to win to be a good anime. The art was cute and sweet, the voice acting was so fricking funny (according to the cast, the improv wasn’t always included but the ones that were left along with the dialogue were pure gold), and the story was exceptional for an anime which seemed to have no base whatsoever. And plus, this had something a lot of anime don’t... A CONCLUSIVE ENDING. Give this anime a watch if you haven’t. It’s melodramatic comedic romantic teen drama at its finest.

Orange

Speaking of melodramatic romantic teen dramas, here’s another one that fits that bill! Minus the comedy, more suicide, and far less cohesive plot. Imagine throwing letters into the Bermuda Triangle and having your 16-year-old selves really reading those letters. I was wondering how they were going to explain sending their letters to the past, but they should’ve come up with better BS than that. Aside from really bad plot holes, this anime was alright. It was slow... really slow. I finished this whole 13 episodes plus the movie in about 2.5 hours after trimming the slow recaps. 

The art was alright. The story was slow, but near the end (excluding the last episode and the movie) it got really heavy. It hit close to home. I struggled with suicide for years, and I felt what this character felt. Certain lines of that dialogue just hit hard. It was depicted in a way that didn’t feel as romanticized. He wasn’t saved by just one person, his trauma didn’t go away just like that, it took a group of friends and planning to help him realize that there was more to life then just regrets.

Would I recommend this? I mean, it was recommended to me, but I’m not forcing this anime on anyone... not because of the themes but because it was darn boring and cliche 70% of the time.

Still Watching

Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

Same things apply as previous entries

Hunter x Hunter (2011)

My brother expected me to finish this a while ago but I put it on the back-burner because the number of episodes seemed daunting. Everything else is good though.

Sousei no Onmyouji

I only watched the first episode.

Boku no Hero Academia Season Four

Same things apply as previous entries. It seems like the Overhaul arc will end in the next episode or two (depending on how much they milk this).

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Groundhog Day but isekai. Seriously, this is a pretty big staple in terms of big isekai. Everyone’s fighting over who’s the best girl meanwhile Subaru is trying his best not to die every five minutes. Seriously, Subaru is a champ and what I’d want out of a Mary Sue isekai protagonist. Get em Subaru. Prove to me you’re not a car.

This will be me for the next few days because it’s getting colder where I am so watch me slip on the ice and die!