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Anime 2024

I barely played any video games in 2024, but I did end up watching quite a bit of anime, both old and new. I did specifically make a push to watch a lot of current anime in 2024, and it was a lot of fun to see what all was coming out that I might not normally check out. I'm going to give my top 3 series that I watched in their entirety, and then cover shows that I only got partway through.

Top New Anime of 2024:

3. Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian The art style is unique and exceptional. I found the characters in this very charming, and that really carried this show for me. I did also find the general story of it engaging. I'm looking forward to more of this show.

2. Gushing Over Magical Girls Hear me out. Yes, it is incredibly lewd and horny, but it also handles its themes in a very genuine manner. It covers a wide array of fetishes and clearly cares about giving them proper representation. The characters are a ton of fun, and the story is really about a love for the magical girl genre and being true to who you are. It is far better than it had to be and I am looking forward to season 2 (though I have already read all of the manga up to current so I know what is coming).

1. Whisper Me a Love Song Hands down my show of the year. It combines my two favorite things in anime, girl bands and yuri. I watched this show with my wife, and we really connected and related to the characters. It is sweet and wholesome and just makes me happy. Plus, the music is great! It is a shame that the show had production issues, which stopped the last two episodes from being aired for months. Because of that, my wife and I both read the entire manga because we needed to know how the season was supposed to end. And honestly? The manga is even more amazing! I am glad we watched the show first though because actually hearing the songs really makes those scenes hit on a whole different level. The final two episodes did finally release just a few days ago, and I'm so glad they did, because it was really special to see those final moments animated.

Also watched all of: Days With My Stepsister - amazing characters, didn't like where the plot ended up. An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride - Actually a lot of fun, if a bit simple.

Top Anime of 2024 That I Started and Want to Finish: Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines - I really enjoyed the first 2 episodes, it seems like a neat premise. Jellyfish Can't Swim in The Night - The first episode is beautiful and the themes of it really spoke to me. Pseudo Harem - Seems like a really cute concept that was done well in the first episode. VTuber Legend - As someone who watches vtubers I've gotta watch more of this, it felt very genuine.

Other Anime of 2024 I Checked Out: Dan Da Dan - First episode left a bad taste in my mouth. Astro Note - Didn't connect with the characters or vibes. My Deer Friend Nokotan - Seems fun, might continue. Ranma 1/2 - Seems like a faithful adaptation, might watch more. Shoushimin: How to Become Ordinary - I am very intrigued by this, will probably continue. 2.5 Dimensional Seduction - Seemed fine. Kaijuu No. 8 - I hate the OP/ED but the series seems interesting. Viral Hit - Interesting premise, maybe? Wind Breaker - Action was very good, do want to continue this at some point. The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio - Very interesting first episode, strong characters. Train to the End of the World - Weird. A Condition Called Love - Didn't grab me. Bartender: Glass of God - Has potential, I want to watch this with Phoebe. A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics - The plot seemed interesting, may return to this. Gods' Games We Play - Kinda whatever.

Top Non-2024 Anime I Watched in 2024: Higurashi: When They Cry - LOVED this one, it's one of my wife's all time favorites and it was very special to get to experience it with her. Bocchi the Rock - Absolutely amazing in every way. Apothecary Diaries - Wonderful characters, really looking forward to the new season coming out.

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I know people make text posts on tumblr, but because of the way I used this site way back when, it feels like a waste for me (specifically) to make a post of just text.

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Dusting off the ol’ tumblr, for no reason in particular. Just in case.

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I have been loving the Acquisitions Incorporated “C” Team over on Penny Arcade, which has inspired me to draw a couple random things. Definitely something I look forward to every week, and it feels good to be drawing stuff again.

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I made some shark icons, because why not.

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I went to an alpaca show yesterday, which was pretty much the greatest thing. Hundreds of cute alpacas!

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White Mage

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Vidya Games

As with most years, I didn't play as many games as I'd hoped to. Much like last year, this can be mostly attributed to Final Fantasy XIV. However, I did take a break from it (and will continue to do so until just before Stormblood in June, I suspect) and managed to play a couple other things.

Games I Played (in no particular order): Story of Seasons (2014) Undertale (2015) The Deer God (2015) 6180 The Moon (2014) Mighty No. 9 (2016) Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (2014) Pokemon Black (2011) Pokemon Y (Pokedex complete!) (2013)

Games That I Am Still Playing: Pokemon TCG Online (2012) Final Fantasy Explorers (2016) Final Fantasy XV (2016) Pokemon Sun (2016)

Games I Started and Plan on Coming Back To: Obduction (2016) VVVVVV (2010) AM2R (2016)

Games I Started But Probably Won't Revisit: Tomb Raider Anniversary (2007) Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (2012) Skyrim: Enhanced Edition (2016)

Overall, I feel like a lot of the games I played were sorta "meh". I enjoyed all the Pokemon games I played, as well as Story of Seasons and Shantae. Mighty No. 9 was terrible, and I didn't find much enjoyment in Undertale or Dark Souls. Having a lot of fun with the games I am still playing, and have a bunch of games that I want to play that look pretty good, so here's to playing more games in 2017.

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Shepherd Malzahar, inspired by this reddit thread

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Heartseeker Kindred

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An idea I want to play around with a bit more, Battle Shepherds. For some reason I got it in my head to have magical flocks of sheep, and heavily armored women to protect them. The first one started out as more of a battle mage sort of deal with a crook in place of the typical staff. Then I started going through other fantasy archetypes like lancer and paladin. Each could have sheep that match their abilities, like the paladin having really big fluffy sheep, etc. It’s a ridiculous idea.

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Still trying to figure this new tablet out (also a new art program). Slowly getting there. It’s definitely better for sketching than what I’d previously been using, which is nice. Just need to work on drawing with it more frequently. Gotta improve.

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Just finished playing Undertale, since I’d heard so many good things about it. It was... okay. I dunno, it had some interesting ideas mechanically, but the art didn’t really do it for me, and it felt like the game was trying too hard too be both funny and serious. I had also heard a lot of people say it was very emotional, and I’m not really seeing where that could have come from. Who knows. I guess it just wasn’t for me.

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Pop Star Draven

(Learning to use a new tablet + new program)

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I thought it would be neat to track which video games I played throughout the year. When it comes to video games, I’m generally pretty behind the curve (mostly because I’m cheap, so I don’t buy games at full price). So, many of these games were not from 2015. I wish I had played through more games, but playing Final Fantasy XIV took up a good portion of my gaming time for the year. I think I’ll try to keep track of what I play in 2016 as well, because it was neat to see. So, in no particular order, these are the games I played in 2015:

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Escape Goat 2 Thomas Was Alone HuniePop Rogue Legacy Cities: Skylines Gone Home Bejeweled 3 The Banner Saga Quake 2 Rock Band 4 Mass Effect 2 Farming Simulator 15 Smash Bros for Wii U The Beginner’s Guide

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...and then I didn't post anything for several months. Woops.

I put together one of those Summary of Art pictures, but it's on my other computer which is currently out of commission. So, that'll have to wait until probably some time in January. Alas. The long and short of it is, I did some decent drawings in the first 2/3 of the year, and then apparently just didn't draw anything for the rest of the year. :/ I mean, I drew stuff for Bonafied and doodled random things, but that's the extent of it. I hope that 2016 goes better art-wise and that I draw more, but then I think I say that every year.

There were definitely some good things that came out of my art in 2015, it wasn't a complete wash. I enjoyed redesigning my old OCs, and hope to do more with those characters in 2016. We shall see.

I had a really crappy December, so here's hoping for a good start to the new year!

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Or, if you’re really skilled, you can have an engineering degree AND get stuck in a job lifting boxes! (I did that for a while, but have since moved on to bigger and better things)

While job searching without a degree it really starts to feel like your sole purpose in society is to lift boxes until you die or they buy a robot that lifts boxes.