July Round-Up '25
Time is going at a pace I can't even keep up with most days, but I'm grateful to my streaming schedule for giving me some kind of way to stay on track. This month was very busy, and I was able to share a little bit of an inside look of what I've been working on via my Twitch streams. The world's been wearing me down and I have some dental stuff I'm extremely anxious about that I'll be taking care of next month (I may need to do more Doodle streams to cover expenses... be on the lookout if you'd like some art from me 
), but I'm going to stay strong and keep working toward a better future. Here are some positives from my world in July!
IRL Happenings
Chris and I checked out the SEGA Pop-up! It had a ton of really cool merch that's typically Japan-exclusive, it was awesome to see unique items from series that I adore such as Sonic, Yakuza, and Puyo Puyo. Most of it was a little too pricey (and almost every bit of Shadow merchandise was gone...), but I was satisfied just being able to witness it in person and take pics.
We also enjoyed seeing the art showcase for "A Taste of Delicious in Dungeon," featuring Mao Momiji's designs for the show! I've loved his art for years and adore how much sparkle he imbues into each painting, plus I'm a big fan of the series so it was fun to appreciate such details in person.
Projects
My biggest project this month is Crafted with Cafe, a visual novel featuring a side story to a game I released last year: The Anniversary! It's free to enjoy, and has characters that I'll be featuring in works to come. I hope you like it!
My friend Event Horizon released her latest singles - Crown on Wings of Bloom/Doom - on her birthday this month! What a great way to celebrate!! I put a lot of love and effort into making the cover art as pretty as possible for her! These songs are inspired by the character Castorice from Honkai Star Rail's duality of life and death.
Games
I watched Chris play through the freshly released Super 10 Pin and it's such a treasure! Capturing the N64 aesthetic perfectly, this combination bowling-golf game is bonkers and super duper fun. Give it a try with its demo, and support the full release on itch - you get a free Steam key when you do!
Chris started Trials of Mana and has been working through it at an off and on pace. It seems like it was somewhat of a test for Visions of Mana's visual style and is very pretty overall, though it plays very differently from that game. Neither of us have found it super engaging so far, but there are little things about the story that I like so far, and I do love how easy it is to switch between the remake soundtrack and original!
For a Summerween Twitch stream, I shared a playthrough of the short n' simple Pepo by Amby (who's currently making Dragon March!). It's free to play and has delightfully cute and slightly spooky vibes, very up my (pumpkin) alley!
Summer Games Done Quick happened in early July! My highlights include Beat Saber, Pump It Up Phoenix, Super Monkey Ball Touch and Roll, Mario Kart World, and its finale Deltarune (which Chris and I stayed up past midnight to finish watching). Lots of laughs and fun, with "the cow gets it live onstream!" from the MKW run living in my head rent-free.
Anime
The Summer Season has officially kicked off! Here's what I'm watching.
My favorite anime this season is The Summer Hikaru Died. I've been keeping up with its manga since it began a few years back, and I'm thoroughly happy with how it's being adapted!! The texture from the manga is being replicated beautifully with lush sound design and gorgeous visuals, amplifying the spooky, uncomfortable, and even goofy moments. If you're a fan of cosmic horror with supernatural elements I highly recommend this one!!
If you enjoy supremely silly situations, give Let's Go Karaoke! a watch! I read its manga last month and it made me laugh out loud; the anime is absolutely amplifying the ridiculousness in the best of ways. It'll be short - only 5 episodes, with the first one out now - and worth seeing if you need something lighthearted.
Another manga I'm keeping up with actively that also has an adaptation this season is Nyaight of the Living Cat. I can't say the anime has been "good" so far... it's very low budget and it shows, but the amusing absurdity of the story's situation and sweetness of cat-loving goodness is still intact. Don't go into this one expecting anything serious except for seriously cute cats.
Takopi's Original Sin isn't one I'd readily recommend due to its content, but it's totally engrossed me. The artstyle is uniquely pretty, and the contrast of Takopi's cuteness and desire to bring happiness to the world with the darkness of the story's extremely emotional situations is super intense. Please be warned that it holds nothing back, and don't watch it if you're affected by depictions of heavy abuse and self-harm.
CITY the Animation is long-awaited from the creator of Nichijou, filled with just as odd of humor that's actually pretty hit and miss for me. Despite this, I'm overall enjoying my time with it due to the delicious animation and its bold, colorful, cute artstyle. My favorite thing by FAR is Mimineko - every time I see them, I'm like "that's me!"
Mimineko's ears about to get squeezed!!
I'm not typically one for romantic shows, but one of my friends recommended The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, and its sugary sweetness is so refreshing to see from both the leads. Seeing that the boy works at his family's patisserie also excited me because I started watching this before I released Crafted with Care - highly relevant!
It's not a currently airing title, but my partner and I were craving something spooky after my Summerween stream, and turned to the anime Shiki to fulfill that craving. I'm shocked I've never had recommendations for it because it was incredibly good!!! The way its story is written is obvious that it originated as a novel in the best of ways, with engaging characters, an absorbing plot, and spooky action. The visuals can get almost silly sometimes, but I always viewed it as "fun" instead of bad. If you're looking for a show to get into when Halloweentime comes, I highly recommend Shiki!!
Some other currently airing anime I'm watching this season are Anne Shirley's 2nd cour, Hell Teacher Nube, and BULLET/BULLET. I ended up dropping With the Rain and You (it's not bad, just a bit slower than I want right now), Hotel Inhumans (meh), and Gachiakuta (it's trying WAY too hard in a not great way).
Other Media
I'd been meaning to start Love Bullet for a long time and finally made the time for it. . . and was surprised to find that only two volumes are out! The premise is very appealing to me: people who die without having experienced love themselves are blessed by the goddess of love to become cupids for matchmaking others. The main cast are girls with white hair, red eyes, and fluffy wings that fold into a heart shape at rest, duking it out to get "points" to become human again for a second chance of experiencing what they're giving to others. There's more nuance to how their cupid powers work, and the way they matchmake includes a variety of weapons beyond the typical bow! So far it has a very sweet story, and even though there's still much more to come, I recommend it.
I've been making my way through the collection of Jurassic Park/World movies this month because I was wanting something Summer-y feeling, and I love dinosaurs very much! Starting with The Lost World: Jurassic Park (AKA Jurassic Park 2, which I actually liked the least out of all the films so far), I went through what's been released for home viewing. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, but I still enjoyed Jurassic Park III for showing a soul mate doesn't have to be romantic, Jurassic World had very cute raptors, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom lacked a good story + was overall silly, but showed even more cute dinosaurs, and finally Jurassic World: Dominion (which I've actually been watching as I write all this up) also lacked an interesting story but had cute fluffy feather dinos so I'm appeased. This was really fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing the latest one eventually!
August is tomorrow!
I have some things happening this upcoming week that I'm very, very excited about!! But on the flipside, I also have the dentist stuff to deal with afterwards... I'll try to stay positive despite everything and fully embrace the good that I've been looking forward to! I'll be offline the first week of August, but try to return with fun Twitch streams afterward - keep an eye on socials! Thanks so much for reading!!
Thank you so much to my friend Valeria for making this gorgeous art including my little sunflower fairy!!