Media-Log
Here's where I post my thoughts about media I consume.
You can use the dropdown menus to filter types of media and years.
Also, you can refer to the tracker sites I have linked on my sidebar
if you wish to see (almost) everything I've consumed,
as this is mostly for when I want to write my first thoughts or short
reviews.
What a crazy ride this was. After rewatching the whole show and then watching the final episode, I think I like It's MyGO!!!!! a little bit better as a whole, but this was still very fun to watch weekly and to binge as well.
If It's MyGO!!!!! took several risks for the franchise, this show went to a whole new level, to the point where it started some controversies and a little bit of outrage online. I honestly appreciate that, especially for this type of show since they could always just go the safe and tried path of just making a generic "cute girls in a band" type show, but no they actually didn't shy away from showing the ugly side of these characters and their struggles, so props not only to the writers but to Bushiroad as well for allowing all the crazy stuff since this is a tie-in for a gacha game after all.
I think the main theme of the show is escapism. All of these characters are drawn to the band not because they enjoy it or want to play music together, but to escape their main insecurities and/or trauma. Which I think is supposed to run parallel to It's MyGO!!!!! where it was more about the characters overcoming their issues and differences and forming a genuine connection through playing music together.
Sakiko for the majority of the show is at the mercy of "fate" and of the decisions other people have made for her, at one point Ave Mujica is the only thing she has that's her own. Mutsumi struggles with her perception of self and how her whole life people just see her as the daughter of two celebrities (terrible parents, by the way). Talking about Uika in detail would get spoilery, but you could say that she also struggles with her sense of self (I've also seen people describe her as BPD, but I'm not very knowledgeable on the topic myself) to the point that the moment someone acknowledged her as a human being she became obsessed with that person.
Nyamu and Umiri didn't get a lot of development (too much to fit into just 13 episodes after all), but hopefully they will in the follow up season they announced. However we did get a peek into the problems they're dealing with. Nyamu wants to "make it", but she feels like she's failing, be it with her influencer stuff or with her acting, the latter of which she becomes particularly insecure about. Umiri puts on a front of being this cool and nonchalant person, but she's actually quite insecure of how others view her.
Characters and themes aside, the scripting, direction, animation, voice acting, and music were all great. Uika's VA in particular gave an outstanding performance in episode 11. They also got quite creative with how they portrayed mental illness.
This was definitely my favorite show of this season and I'm really looking forward to what's to come!!
Also, I've binged the rest of the main shows in the BanG Dream franchise so I'll be writing about those as one entry soon.
And so...it ended. I really have no words for this ending except for "underwhelming". Not the worst ending I've seen on a manga however, just super rushed and very whatever, which honestly was about what I expected the moment I saw the announcement that this manga was ending.
Without getting into spoilers, at the very least there was closure for the romance aspect, even if what followed it was very weak, and seemed to set up some plot that was just not finished and went completely ignored in the end.
Very very disappointing, but the manga was still a decent romance nonetheless despite it's (many) flaws, especially towards the end.
Decided to rewatch this show now that Ave Mujica's only two episodes from ending.
Ended up loving this even more! First time I watched it was right after finishing Girls Band Cry and was in the mood for more girls rock band anime. Initially I was expecting this show to be much more "idol"-like and safe, but I was pleasantly surprised with how many risks the show takes in terms of what you'd expect from this kind of thing. In that respect, it is pretty similar to Girls Band Cry.
All of the main cast has their own flaws that they learn to overcome and grow throughout the length of the show. The atmosphere of the show most of the time is also kind of gloomy and dramatic, which was also a surprise because I expected something more bubbly and light from a Bang Dream show, maybe something more similar to K-On (this is completely unfounded however, as I've not yet watched any other season of Bang Dream besides MyGO and AveMuji, I will change that now however!). That's not to say it's all doom and gloom however, as the show does contrast those heavier emotional moments with some humor and more lighthearted moments.
I found the 3D CGI animation to be quite great as well! Also, the music was awesome!! It very much caters to my tastes, as MyGO's music is a mix of pop punk, skate punk, power pop, and emo.
All in all, MyGO is a great show and I highly recommend watching it! Especially for people who like the aforementioned Girls Band Cry.
Cute show! Which might seem a little odd to say about a show that revolves around teenage girls fighting terrorism...
Personally, I found the slice-of-life moments more enjoyable than the main plot about government conspiracies and terrorists. The action scenes were really cool though! Very well animated. But yeah, I found the actual plot to be kind of whatever, especially towards the end. Best part by far was peppy girl Chisato being a goofball and her more aloof buddy Takina warming up to her throughout the show.
First new song in 16 years! I've been a fan of Poison the Well ever since I first heard The Opposite of December back in high school (though I'll admit I still haven't given their albums after You Come Before You a try).
Anyways, I do really like this new song! It sounds like they amped up their alt metal leanings for this one, but still keeping it heavy. The harsh vocals are noticeably weaker than they were in the band's heyday, but well, it's been over a decade so it's understandable. I personally don't mind how they sound.
Hopefully this means there will be a new album sometime soon.
Yesterday, I started reading this manga titled "The Summer You
Were There", which I finished today.
Although I didn't even read a description before going into it, I
found it as a recommendation on WataTabe's Anilist page, so I was kind of expecting
another sad read...and wasn't it one.
It had a lot of very sad and painful moments, it even got me to
cry multiple times while reading it (and I don't
just mean getting teary-eyed), but even so, it had a beautiful and
hopeful message, it really resonated with me,
especially since I could somewhat relate to the main character in
many aspects.
Despite the sad ending, it was the kind of story that tells you to
keep pushing forward, keep living and don't get
too hung up on your past mistakes, just give it your best moving
forward.
I started reading a manga titled "This Monster Wants to Eat Me". A friend sent me an article saying it's getting an anime adaptation, so I got curious and looked up the first chapter to give it a try...at the moment of writing I'm halfway through to catching up.
Needless to say, I'm enjoying it so far. It's a yuri with dark themes and monster girls. The art is pretty good, and the monster designs look pretty creepy which sorta gives me Mieruko-Chan vibes, with how the art is generally cute but the monsters look grotesque.
Today I finished the Gakkou Gurashi manga!! I really really enjoyed
it! Kinda makes me a little sad that we never got more seasons for
the anime, but I guess it could've been a little difficult to work
it out with some of the changes they made to the story in the anime?
Not sure.
Anyways, it was really cool how the author left you some clues and
little details that made you go like "oh..." when things got
revealed and then you pieced it all together. I especially liked the
part with the little sister, that was kinda heartbreaking. You could
feel how hopeless things were all through the manga, really, even if
the girls themselves never gave up hope.
In the end it did kinda feel that the situation just got turned
around somewhat easily, but well, I'm not too bothered by having a
happy ending :)
Started reading Gakkou Gurashi. I watched the anime back when it came out, and rewatched it recently this year and I really enjoyed it both times, so I'm looking forward to finding out how the story continues!
I read Goodbye Eri. Very interesting manga by Fujimoto.
I quite like the way he mostrly drew it from the POV of the
protagonist holding a camera. It gave it a movie kinda feel which
also fits perfectly well with the story.
I caught up with Ruri Dragon! Last few chapters got really
interesting, sort of breaking the CGDCT thing it had going on and
introducing some conflict. I liked the couple chapters it had that
dealt with discrimination.
Latest chapter (ch.22) also seems to be leading in an interesting
direction, giving Ruri a way to put her powers to use. Really
looking forward for more!
Started reading Ruri Dragon. It's a slice-of-life manga revolving
around a girl who suddenly wakes up having horns, and then finding
out she's half-dragon and randomly awakening some of her dragon
powers at school.
I'm only 10 chapters in and so far I like it quite a bit. It's quite
chill to read and has plenty of funny moments, with some very
wholesome moments as well especially with Ruri's mom.
I caught up with My Dress Up Darling!! The last couple chapters (up
to ch. 108 at the time of writing) were so cute! ch. 106 had my
heart sink, especially after the somewhat weird gloomy atmosphere
the Haniel arc had, but then 107 came in clutch with
Wakana's confession.
I can't imagine how hard that cliffhanger in ch. 106 was to people
who were reading as it was coming out lol.
Watched EP03 of TsumaSho. I started this show because some posts on
Twitter were claiming it was "not what it seems" and actually a
wholesome show...but so far it has been really weird lol as I
expected from such a premise.
This episode was the worst, since I thought this was gonna be a
story about the guy moving on from the death of his wife, but this
episode seemed to lead in the opposite direction...
I'm gonna keep watching for now, but so far it seems like it's gonna
be a drop.
Watched EP02 of Kimi wa Meido-sama. So far it's been a cute and
chill show, if not a bit forgettable.
Not a whole lot happened this episode. It revolved around the main
characters taking care of a puppy that was left outside in a box.
We got a little bit of backstory on the maid girl and she got a
name now.
It was pretty alright. I already knew "Savior", which is a great song, but the rest wasn't nearly as good though still pleasant enough.