Media Log

05/24/25

The Apothecary Diaries S1 & S2

Anime

Technically season 2 isn't finished yet, but it's close enough where I feel confident in giving my opinion.

I used to think I didn't like court dramas where people mostly talk to each other, but it turns out I just had to watch one done well. Plus, this one has a bit of medical case-of-the-day-ness going on, which is always a bonus for me. It seems like there's an overarching plot slowly creeping into view, which is something I'm looking forward to. I love how unapolagetically weird Maomao is. The way her and Jinshi and other characters bounce off of each other is also very entertaining. I've never been more hyped about a conversation. 5/5 stars

05/22/25

Look Back

Movie

Maybe I'm a little biased as a Fujimoto fan. Whatever. I cried for like 20 minutes straight afterwards. But it was a good cry. As an adaptation of a one shot, it's pretty short at a little over an hour, but I don't think it needed to be any longer. Pretty much everthing in this is hand drawn and I could gush over the color work and lighting probably forever. Kyomoto and Fujino are simultaneously two different artists with their own motivations for drawing and also the inner thoughts of an conflicted artist. "Why do you draw, Fujino?"

What gets me every time I read or watch Look Back is the grief Fujino experiences. Grasping at any reason at all that could explain her loss and latching on to it so hard she dreams up an alternate future where nothing goes wrong. I can't think about this story for too long without feeling like a sad little soggy purse dog. A must-watch for anyone who has created for the sake of creating. 5/5 stars

05/05/25

Strange Pictures

Book

By Uketsu. I got this book randomly while visitng the bookstore a while ago but didn't have the chance to read it until recently. It's a pretty quick read (I finished it in about 2 hours), but it's engaging for the entire time. Despite it being marketed pretty strongly as horror, to me it felt more like a regular mystery story.

I thought the use of images and diagrams to help tell the story was a cool idea. Additonally, I felt myself putting the pieces together as the story progressed, which was fun. The way clues fall into place was satisfying. Some of the conclusions characters come to may feel like a bit of a stretch to some readers, but I'm now interested in reading Uketsu's next work. 4/5 stars

04/19/25

Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing

Movie

I wasn't expecting anything groundbreaking from the movie, but it was decent nonetheless. The pacing felt a little clunky, in part because they had to balance all five groups, mostly in the form of montages. Also it felt like the main Miku kept singing the same one line from her song a few too many times. Maybe halfway to two-thirds of the way through the movie the people next to me were groaning out loud when she started that line again. Despite that, there were lots of song and vocaP easter eggs for longtime fans and the live performance parts were very fun. 3/5 stars

03/01/25

High Score Girl

Anime

I can't say I was particularly gripped by this show. I guess it was entertaining, but it's a pretty simple romcom with the added gimmick that the main characters are hardcore fighting game players. Normally I'd think that the inclusion of gaming would be pandering to nerdy gamer types, but the specificity of the references makes me believe this show was, in part, a love letter to arcade gaming. 3/5 stars

01/17/25

Wicked (2024)

Movie

I'm always a little bit leery of movie adaptations of musicals, but this one has the advantage of both main leads being singers who can sing. In general, I thought it was fun and felt appropriately paced, despite it only being part 1. Something about the visual style felt kinda... artificial, which probably sounds silly to say about a movie about a fictional story. I dunno, it just felt like there was a sheen to everything, like someone cranked up the contrast. 4/5 stars