A bunch of stuff I've enjoyed this year
This will be a little freeform, a mix between media log (?) and general reflections on the year, because otherwise I won't get to the end of the post. So, things in general I've enjoyed this year.
I've enjoyed getting back into reading. I've had an issue with setting a reading habit for a very long time, and I still do, but now I'm reading, and that's what matters. The real goal has always been actual books, but between comics and visual novels I'm doing some kind of reading often enough, which made a hell of an impact in my life. This year I've read some of the best manga in my life, between Dungeon Meshi, Houseki no Kuni, Slam Dunk, Yuki to Matsu, Terra e…, and Tezuka's MW. I've recently added Nakamura Asumiko's O.B. to my collection, and her BL series continues to always be a short source of comfort whenever a new part of it comes out. She's the best. Lately, I've been reading Masakazu Ishiguro's Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, a fantastic comedy series that's been a blast to check out occasionally.
As for books, I've finished Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse. I won't say I got everything about it, but it was fun. I liked the maximalism and the weird mix between science and mysticism. There's a manga adaptation by Moto Hagio I need to read some time soon. That said, I'm ashamed I still haven't finished Grande Sertão: Veredas, but that's cause I find it a bit difficult to read too much in one sitting… and I'm just slow in general; that aside, it's one of the great Brazilian novels and truly lives up to its reputation. It's one of the works that got my inspiration for writing back, and while I'm speaking of that subject, I need to recommend mecha yuri epic poem Cosmic Walord Kin-Bright once again. It made me realize you can just write whatever you want, as obvious as that may sound, and it's just a fun time in general. Another somewhat similar, recent project I've been reading is The Gordian Cycle, a Kamen Rider/Mad Max-inspired Saga with lots of blood and lesbians, written in the style of the Ulster Cycle; it's still being published but it's a ton of fun to read so far. These two works ended up leading me to older European literary cycles, which have been a huge help to set the tone I wanted to my own writing project.
And that leads me to, I've been really enjoying writing this year. Although I've only started for real… I don't remember the month but it was during the second half of 2024. I work a lot, more than I probably should, and having a creative activity to do made me realize I had something empty inside of me which writing helped to fill. It's extremely fulfilling, but I've written about it before so I won't dwell on that. As of right now, I'm on the fourth attempt, and I think I finally found a style and format I'm comfortable with. I'll give it an update whenever there's news to communicate.
I've watched few shows, but some things I saw were pretty good. Like the Tomino shows Aura Battler Dunbine and Reconguista in G. I'd seen G-Reco before of course, but it was my first time watching the TV version in a couple of years, and I had the pleasure of discovering it's still really charming and good! The movies tighten some things up but the series is a great time all in all. I've also seen Simoun, which is stellar if weird and somewhat flawed. I've been going through Ashita no Joe and that is also very good. I've probably seen more stuff but I don't want to think much here and these are the ones that really made an impact on me this year. Oh yeah, I've seen The Bear too, that is quality TV.
And I've enjoyed the time I spent with my friends. God knows I don't have many of them, so whenever we're able to hang out that's always great. I'm including internet friends here as well, so if we ever had any pleasant talks or interactions anywhere, I want you to know I appreciated it. Life can be miserable and lonely, and these are the little things that help.
I've enjoyed getting some work that's different. As I mentioned, I work way too much, and the worst part is that I work with content that I hate and started to be a huge bother, specially when I do it many days in a row. So a couple months ago, I got to do PT-BR subtitles for the show Secret Level, which isn't really my kind of show, but it was a breath of fresh air, and I think it's going to lead, at least a little bit, to me getting some less tiresome work from now on. I can hope! One of my recent goals is just to be involved with projects that are more fulfilling, be it professionally or not, and that may be one step in that direction.
I think I'll close it off here. Don't know what I was expecting to write exactly, but I hope this was fine to read.
Merry Christmas everyone!
ADDENDUM: I just realized I forgot completely to talk about games. Well, maybe next year!