#1: There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless.... ~Next Shine~

Not quite as good as I hoped after S1's soaring conclusion, with some visible (honestly predictable) struggles to balance the dynamics of its big ol' polycule. But it's still got Rizz and Faces, and I enjoyed Kaho a lot.

#2: My Friendly Neighborhood (2025)

One of those games that serves as a real strong case study in what focus and art direction can do for a game. Graphics tech is nothing special, very small cast with not that many voice lines, pretty short - but it knows its tone and it fuckin' hits it.

#3: Sektori (2025)

Just got my first clear, so that's good enough for The Thread.

One of the most satisfying closing stretches I can remember in this type of arcade game.

#4: DUSK (2018)

Got gifted the game, gave it a try, appreciate it, wish it made me less motion sick.

#5: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (2024)

Glad I replayed, but also don't see myself returning to it again. Fun mix of Machine Games' usual wheelhouse with the rip-snorting tone of Indiana Jones adventures, but some performance issues irritate and the side content wears out its welcome.

#6: The Ancient Magus' Bride - Midsummer Pilgrimage

okay but seriously give me the Chise dating game. Make a game where you have the option of kissing any (Philomela) or all (Philomela) of her classmates (Mela) at the college (Mela) while having to manage Elias' emotions-

#7: Void Stranger (2023) (revisit)

Coming away with some of the most mixed feelings I've had about a game in a long long time. It spins so many plates, and it's really impressive how many it spins, but there were a lot moments near the end I wished it were more focused. Still, worth experiencing.

#8: Return Of The Obra Dinn (2018) (Replay)

Really glad I replayed this, bit of a shame you basically have to wait a few years to reset your memory every time you want to redo lol

#9: Cosmic Princess Kaguya (2026)

Sublime. Gorgeously animated. Fantastically choreographed. Wildly indulgent. Overtly queer. Deliriously optimistic. An otherwise rather drab Winter lineup is redeemed entirely because it featured Cosmic Princess Kaguya. If you share ANY of my tastes, watch it.

#10: Avatar (2009)

Gotten curious about the new movies, so decided to revisit.

Eh. Excellent casting and acting, sfx that still impress, and good to great art and direction, married to a story that is largely as rote as you've heard and particularly suffers from a pretty poor protag in JakeSully.

#11: Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022)

Starts off with an exciting raising of the stakes and an interesting and charming new generation of characters, but then squanders most of it by taking Jakesully from a mere uninspiring protagonist to one of the most insipid, cowardly failures I've ever seen.

#12: Berserk volumes 11-15 (1995-1998)

Reading these in batches, so let's try and Media Thread them in batches.

The Golden Age reaches a stunning, wrenching conclusion, and the Lost Children arc begins.

Wild how Berserk only becomes more obviously influential the more I read.

#13: Avatar: Fire And Ash (2025)

A big, loud, stupid *mess* of a movie - but *miles* more entertaining than Way Of Water for that. Jakesully is still an *awful* protag in ways the movie can't seem to grasp, but the kids take much more center stage, and they kinda rule. Quaritch is a gd riot too.

#14: The Ancient Magus' Bride Collected Fragments, Volume 1 (2025)

A collection of 4 short manga released as blu-ray bonuses for season 1 of the anime years ago, compiled and rereleased. Obviously each short is standalone, but they're all quite good. More BL than I anticipated.

#15: Ninja Gaiden Sigma (2007) (dropped)

Felt a craving for a character action game, had this sitting on my backlog for years, thought I'd give it a look and maybe start working my way towards 4. Saw enough after 2 hours lol.

Holy fucking *shit* the camera in this thing is awful, lol.

#16: Berserk, Volumes 15-20 (1998-2000)

We enter into the Birth Ceremony arc, which is probably my least favorite so far by a healthy margin - mostly due to Casca's unfortunate infantilization.

Low-tier Berserk is still an insanely formidable manga though, as deep and richly illustrated as ever.

#17: Journal With Witch (2026) (dropped)

Making it official on this one. Best show I've ever dropped by halftime. Objectively very good, meeting all its goals, has really good and worthwhile goals - but the emotional register just doesn't speak to me at all. Too sterile, numb, alienating for me.

#18: Adachi And Shimamura Short Stories 2 (2026)

My favorite highlights by far probably constitute the majority of the stories, domestic bliss with adult Hougetsu and Sakura, but there's a lot here for everybody. Side characters, Problematic Ships, dashes of tragedy - good shit.

#19: 'Tis Time For Torture, Princess (2024)

Probably the most Doga Kobo show I've ever watched that wasn't made by Doga Kobo. Salute to Studio Pine Jam.

Only really has variations on one joke, which puts an obvious ceiling on how high it can really go, but damned if it doesn't usually hit.

#20: Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (2025 rerelease, originally 2008)

It's funny, I remember there being a ton of discussion of Ninja Gaiden being crazy, impossibly difficult back in the day, but playing it in a post-Dark Souls world I mostly found it pretty straightforward even on hard lol.

#21: Ghost And Witch Volume 1 (2026 EN release)

The author of personal favorite The Ancient Magus' Bride takes on a second serialization, with more Irish, more Biting, and a stranger premise. Glad to see it finally get a proper translated release. Sharp edged, quite queer, very compelling.

#22: Resident Evil Requiem (2026)

RE2R remains the best modern (ever?) RE game IMO, followed by RE4R, but REquiem is probably my number 3. I think Capcom's built a serious argument as the best AAA video game dev of the last 10 years at this point. Built a great engine and ironclad fundamentals.

#23: Evangelion 30th Anniversary Special (2026)

Shocked, SHOCKED, to report that this was just a brief, light celebration of a fan favorite character(s) rather than a Final Definitive True Official Statement On The Shipping War.

That said, it's pretty fun for what it is!

#24: Assassin's Creed Shadows (2025)

I get why they don't, and I can even imagine how it wouldn't even be a financial winner for them, but MAN I want Ubisoft to just make a serious-ass focused stealth game again someday. Focused anything, really.

#25: Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

Probably my new favorite Miyazaki film, though it's been a long time since I've seen Spirited away. Absolutely immaculate vibes, oozing charm from every pore, combined with peerless levels of craft. All y'all who told me it's the best were totally correct.

#26: Ninja Gaiden 4 (2025)

There were moments when I absolutely despised this game and a few moments where I super dug it. Really frustrated in the end, there's some moments where the game really cooks, but both the Ninja Gaiden and Platinum frameworks have major unresolved structural issues IMO.

#26: Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table

I don't like to call things "pretentious" but ShiboYugi ultimately works its ass off to deserve the term. The production has some verve but ultimately can't salvage a script full of meaningless naval-gazing and one-note, idiot characters

#27: Project Hail Mary (2026)

Much better than I expected. Dynamite ending.

You too will believe Ryan Gosling can fall in love with a 3 foot tall sediment creature from the Eridian star system.

#28: Dispatch (2025)

Fought back valiantly from an early near-drop to hit a solid score. Great protag. Weird how low the audio mixing was on all the action scenes. Despite some dicey moments wound up being glad I grabbed it on sale.