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The year of finishing some damn anime

Recently, I've had a tiny issue. By recently, of course, I mean the last 5+ years, give or take. I just can't finish a show. I'll get into something new, struggle to get through one episode over an hour, and then give up and do something else. And that's fine, I'm not beating myself up that I have a bad case of unmedicated ADHD, it's just frustrating that it means that I'm missing out on things I want to watch. And it's not because of anyone else, it's just me doing it to myself.

The goal this year: I have 25 shows in this 5x5. I wanna finish at least 20 of them. Cardcaptor Sakura is 70 episodes so it's an exception, I'll count it as finished if I watch 2 cours of it, or 24 episodes. Dropping a show also counts as finishing it, I just have to accept that it's dropped instead of whinging about how it's "on the backburner". No such thing! It's either happening or over.
So, here's the plan!
I'm gonna set aside Tuesdays and Saturdays as designated watching days. In 2024 I've got 103 combined Tuesdays and Saturdays, not including the ones that've already passed. So if I wanna watch everything on my list by the end of the year (444 total episodes), I'll need to watch a bit over 4 episodes on each watch day. More than 4 (4.32 to be more accurate) each watch day seems like a bit much if you're trying to count the hours, but it's better than it seems. That's to complete every single thing on the list, which isn't the goal, I only need need to finish 20/25 - I could skip a whole row and be fine. That'll give myself wiggle room in case life gets in the way, and extra space in case I wanna get some more shows in. Plus, not every show is made exactly the same. Cromartie episodes are only 12 minutes long, Yokohama Shopping Log is only 2 episodes long, etc.
I probably will not be writing about a lot of the shows just because writing about creative works is not my strong suit. I can explain why I like what I like given enough time, but I'm somewhat on a time crunch. I'm terrible at finishing writing my posts anyways, I'm not gonna try and pressure myself even more.
Younger me is probably sobbing as they watch 10 shows a season, staring at me putting 20 as my goal...

Rambling thoughts on the "Waifu" sticker

When I say "the waifu sticker" I don't literally mean exactly stickers with pretty anime girls on them. I don't really find anything wrong with the average peeker or anything, and honestly half the time the waifu sticker isn't even a sticker, it's a t-shirt or some other memorabilia.
What I mean is, in broad strokes, a piece of merchandise that is generally easy to produce (such as a t-shirt or a sticker) that usually features an anime girl (generally from a popular show like Darling in the Franxx, Nagatoro, SAO, Dress-up Darling, etc.) that is pretty traditionally attractive (she'll have big breasts and a big ass, but not too big), and often times has some hint of very basic eroticism (a bunny suit, a seductive pose, heart eyes, a pantyshot, etc.). I'm also going to lump in the "one word" stickers in here, where the whole point of the sticker is generally just one "anime" word. Notably, I'm not saying a Japanese word, because "waifu" and "senpai" are about as often to pop up as "lewd" and "weeaboo", it's more general western anime consuming culture than anything from the shows themselves.
General western anime consuming culture is honestly a great way to start poking at my normal frustrations with it. Anime is popular now, to an extent. If you go to a "pop culture" store anime is probably there, if you go online you'll find plenty of people who'll reference Jojo or post a Zero-Two reaction gif while being otherwise normal. It's normal to like Jojo, or Darling in the Franxx, or MHA, etc. It's pop culture, at least the shows that are popular, and every pop culture hit has its very own unlicensed shirt sold at a mall booth.
The Waifu Sticker is appealing because it helps you look like you're with the zeitgeist with very minimal effort, but in an edgy way. "Oh, you like anime? Well, me too, but my anime girl is in black and white and she's not wearing a skirt, isn't that so weird and far out?". It's signalling being in the in-group in a way that is digestible enough to be handled by the kind of person who'd search up "waifu" on redbubble instead of browsing through indie sticker makers, while also feeling digressive enough to settle down thoughts that you're just buying into something popular. Nonono, you're not buying a Bart Simpson shirt directly from the Universal Studios gift shop like everyone else, you're buying the unlicensed Bart shirt where he's smoking weed. Isn't that just so much cooler?
The other aspect that kinda gets to me is the sexualization, in the sense that a lot of it is very sexual, but in an incredibly bland way. If you as previously mentioned search for "waifu" on redbubble, assuming you're logged in and have the safesearch turned off, you'll be greeted by a variety of asses and tits and thighs. The worst you'll get is a bit of bondage here and there. It's incredibly toned down, stripped down, bare, and powerfully unerotic, primarily because of how it flattens a ton of characters into the "waifu" theme. Marin Kitagawa may be loud and proud, with a serious love of cosplay and a bit of an impulsive streak, but the important part is that she has relatively large breasts and a large ass. Nagatoro and her relationship with her senpai, how they slowly grow on each other and start pushing the other to do better and be better, isn't something that's allowed to manifest when you're trying to sell a $3 sticker based on the same handful of traits that all the other girls in your sticker shop have. Hell, half of the time they might as well not be a character, considering how they have a black bar covering their eyes with "waifu" covering slapped on the front. If you enjoy anime, even if you only enjoy a handful of very popular shows, trying to show that a character is your waifu by getting a sticker that explicitly covers up a big portion of their identity while flattening the rest of their existence into boobs and pantyshots seems like a genuinely terrible idea if you have any hint of genuine feelings.
But if your main goal isn't to have genuine feelings but instead to perform "liking anime in a mainstream way", then hey, whatever works!
I'm generally classifying this as rambling because complaining about this feels somewhat pointless. I'm getting mad over something that honestly kinda doesn't matter. The existence of someone with a Ryuuko KLK sticker of just her ass in panties in place of a personality doesn't mean I can't watch Kill La Kill and genuinely enjoy seeing the way it explores its themes and history, or the same with Dress up Darling, Mobile Suit Gundam, Lucky Star, anything else for that matter. I don't really interact with the kind of person this product is for, I have actively stayed away from most anime forums for a decade plus and counting. So I'm honestly confused why I care so much.

Mayoi Neko Overrun

This show sucks, like, it really really sucks. It sucks in the "this is actively obnoxious in like 5 different ways" way. A show that really cannot let the audience simply understand and recognize the basic, cookie cutter tropes it has to offer, but must actively explain them in detail in case the whole thing flies over your head.

Hey, did you notice? The main love interest has blonde hair and looks a bit pouty, could you hazard a guess as to what kind of personality she has? What, you wanted to experience her personality, figuring out who she is as a person, like you're getting to know her as someone meeting her for the first time? Of course you didn't! You needed to be explained, in no uncertain terms, that she's a tsundere. And that the MC's friends are a hardcore otaku and a strict martial arts person.

Honestly, I don't think I can buy enough weed to let me stomach watching through this uninterrupted. I wanted to write more but I'm feeling it too much, fuck this show.

I'm still gonna watch it.

Whats so bad about porn, again?

Crunchyroll just announced it acquired online store RightStuf. The biggest thing of note here, outside of the blatant monopolizing of the field of legal anime and how attrocious things are going to become, is a link in the article for the "FAQ Page".

Hold on a fucking second this is just about the porn. Literally. This entire main FAQ page is about the fact that due to their merger with Crunchyroll, RightStuff will not be selling porn. It's "Hey we bought this company" and "We bought this company, so they're no longer selling porn".
I don't think I have to mention this, but porn is in fact, good. It's not bad. It's a positive thing. And here's another example of a giant corporation being so utterly terrified of their "brand" being "tarnished" by "naughty" stuff that they slice off a big chunk of a company to do so.
It's yet another reminder that this is a good reason to pirate. You should just pirate stuff. If you like something, you should either have a physical copy, or have a digital copy downloaded somewhere nice and secure. Otherwise, it might as well never have existed at all.

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nazuna nazuna nazuna

Happy Birthday Iori

Happy fucking birthday Iori Minase.