Games
To prepare for Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth's release next month, I did a New Game+ run through Final Fantasy 7: Remake and enjoyed it just as much as my first playthrough. It's SUCH a phenomenal game, and the epitome of what every remake should aspire to with how snappy the gameplay is, a more enhanced view of the characters and their personalities, and a super fresh take on the story itself. Following its completion, I also finally got to play the short and sweet Intermission episode featuring Yuffie; I utterly loved it and its Dirge of Cerberus references. It also introduced some shaking news for the main story itself and made me even MORE hyped for the next part. I'm seriously excited!!!!
I'll NEVER get tired of the Honey Bee Inn dancing mini-game!!
I have played... a LOT.... of New Pokemon Snap... and I'm loving it!! Chris got it for me for Christmas and it's hard to put down; it's such a great take on the original game's formula, plus so much more! I'm stoked every time I see a new Pokemon when the course levels up, and the interactions between the creatures are such a joy to see. Despite having seen the credits roll, they continue adding more content beyond what I would have expected. I'm having fun!
This game RULES but also AAAAAAAAA NOOOOO WHYYYYYY
YAKUZA 8 IS FINALLY HERE!!! (And by FINALLY I mean GameStop took its sweet time delivering my copy...) I haven't gotten very far in the game, but it's already so very different than I expected after playing the demo from my copy of The Man Who Erased His Name; the narrative starts off in a very heart-hurty way, and I'm sure the story will only become more heartbreaking as I play, but I utterly adore these characters and can't wait to see where the ride takes me!
I LOVE THESE BOYS!!!!!!!
Anime
A new season was ushered in with the beginning of the year! Here's what I'm watching:
A Sign of Affection is such a sweet and heartwarming story so far. It's awesome to see a story featuring an adult hearing-impaired character where it not only explores the feelings of first love for someone who experiences the world differently than I do, but also the nuances of relationships with people who truly want to be a part of that world versus those who lean into ableist tendencies without realizing it. The intricacy put into the sign language's animation - how it differs between characters to where you can see tonality in their fingertip movements - is seriously stunning. I've read that the mangaka has a hard of hearing friend who helps consult on the way protagonist Yuki is portrayed and her experiences, which helps it feel a lot more authentic than how I've seen similar characters written. I anticipate each week's episode to see how it continues.
Without having read any of it prior to watching, I was looking forward to Delicious in Dungeon purely for the fact that Studio Trigger was behind it, but was actually kind of surprised at how little it caught my attention for the first few episodes? We originally started watching in Japanese, but when we switched to the English dub, I think the humor of it all translated a lot easier and I started enjoying it much more. I appreciate how much of a freak (I mean this affectionately) each of the characters are.
I've been awaiting season 2 for Hikari no Ou and it continues to be a neat multi-media story. I feel like people are unnecessarily mean about the animation - it has many small cuts between the animation itself and colorful illustration work, and admittedly is a little wonky sometimes - but it doesn't detract from the narrative. I'm looking forward to seeing how the story progresses; it's told in a way where it really feels like I'm watching the events of a book unfold.
Metallic Rouge was a show I looked into entirely because Studio Bones was at its helm, and even though I felt like the first episode didn't do a great job of establishing the characters and dumped a little too much information without explaining how the world works, it's becoming better as everything comes together in subsequent episodes. As an original for TV, it has a lot on its shoulders to present an engaging story and otherwise, and I think it at least has a cool world going for it - I'm not sure if I'll finish it, but for now I'm interested to see how it continues to shape up.
I'm intrigued by the way magic works in The Witch and the Beast as well as how it combines an almost fairy tale-like setting to the backdrop of a modern story, and even though the characters aren't "likable" in my mind, I think they're interesting. Let's have more girls in media that aren't afraid to be a little rude or let loose!
Okay, so it's not new - and I've probably seen it 10 times all the way through - but Chris and I are in the midst of a rewatch of Oban Star Racers (thanks to our shiny new blu-ray edition of the series) and I STILL LOVE IT SO MUCH!! If you've never given this gem a try, I highly recommend it; the strong storytelling, unique character designs/artstyle, beautiful backgrounds, and fantastic soundtrack make this show truly special. The English dub is my preferred way of watching, but it also has French and Japanese (among other) dubs as it is a French-Japanese collaboration. Please watch!!
To have a bit of entertaining-but-not-overwhelming background noise, we've had Digimon Season 1 (the English dub) on our TV as Chris and I work on projects. I've seen it an abundance of times by now - I watched this season religiously as it originally premiered here in the USA, and have since done many repeat full-season watches - and doubt it'll ever get old. Its unhinged writing still makes me laugh out loud nearly 25 years later, and its charming characters will forever warm my heart! I love you Digimon!!
Fun Fact: This exact image was printed in a Disney Adventures magazine I received, and I thought the characters were so cute I just had to check it out when it aired. I've been hooked ever since!
That's all for now!
February is just around the corner, and with it brings many fun things to look forward to... including my anniversary with Chris, Valentine's Day (which is also my parents' wedding anniversary), and more! I hope the projects I have in the works will be something I can share soon, though I'll certainly be very busy... I'm hoping to stream a bit more next month too, but no promises. Keep up with me on social media to see what's going on in the meantime! And thanks for reading!!
