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chacharoni · 2 days ago

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end of 2024 ramblings

I haven't really made a proper post here in ages, so here's me rambling about things I really enjoyed in 2024, primarily animations but also some other media and ttthings.

Asks/comments regarding this post are very welcome, thank you and I hope you enjoy reading!

Sailor Moon

Starting off with this, as of this year (2024) I have finally watched the whole show (and I'm slowly reading the manga too). I will be talking about some spoilers so do skip the Sailor Moon section if you don't want to read them.

My only real exposure to the Sailor Moon series prior to this year, was trying to watch it on TV as a kid, but to no avail as it aired in ungodly early hours of the morning… and I suppose all the art and memes that I would later stumble upon online from time to time. So my thoughts prior to watching it summed up to 'Sailor Moon is a classic and its cultural impact is tremendous' and 'it also has lesbians I guess?'.

Needless to say Sailor Moon is, similtaneously way more and way less than I expected.

There's so much that can be said about the anime adaptation and its differences from the manga. I'm personally of two hearts on the matter, I don't like how the manga's stories were dismissed for not having a broader appeal, but I enjoyed the extra content of the anime more often than not.

While the anime expands on the manga in a very repetitive manner by sticking to a 'monster of the week' format, causing plotlines to stay flat for too long or even rolling back on plot progress made on occasion, it manages to flesh out a lot of characters way more than their manga counterparts.

A side effect of that also being that some characters get stories that conflict the manga canon to an unrecognizable degree, but that's usually not a bad thing.

Examples of positive change (in my very honest opinion) are evil twink Zoisite and Koan's survival and redemption arc. I loved these two characters a lot so I was glad to see them stick around for as long as they did. Sure Zoi could have done without the hints of homophobia baked into his character and Koan should REALLY REALLY NOT have been de-gothifyed around the end of her story relevance, but no point crying over 30 year old spilt milk I guess…

My overall watch experience through season 1 and up until the end of season 2 was mostly curiocity satisfied. 'This show is history and that's why I should watch it' was my main drive. Despite the fun parts, the first two seasons did get somewhat boring and I wasn't very font of either plotline.

(My knowledge of the manga also rans out by the end of with these two arcs so I have little to comment on the differences between the two versions past this.)

Nothing really prepared me for the director change that happens for Season 3. A difference that can be felt from the very first animated frames of this arc and especially in the world shaking impact the 'sailor moon lesbians' have on the story, through the character conflict they bring on the table.

I love Sailor Moon season 3 more than anything I've watched this year (and I watched a LOT of really great shows).

Nothing quite made me feel like a child watching my favourite show on TV impatient to see my favourite character show up again like this season managed to.

Haruka Tenou is the best Sailor Moon character and this is a fact, not just my poor little guy honest opinion. I'm incredibly happy to have been blessed with a director that was aware of this fact too and did all in his power to let her shine as much as she did.

Haruka and Michiru's presence in the show brings intrigue and investment in the plot that was sorely lacking in the seasons prior. They're also a vast improvement to the rom-com aspects of the show, simply by inciting 'gay panic' on the rest of the sailors soldiers (I'm using this term the way baby gays use it, to be clear.)

So yeah… I really loved this season, it only kinda disappointed me at the very end because it gets vague and anti-climatic. From research I did, that seems to have been the fault of studio execs, so I'm more mad in behalf of the director than anything.

Sailor Moon s3 walked and fell on its face so Utena could run basically.

I don't really have many more thoughts on Sailor Moon. Season 4 was well directed, but I hardly cared about Chibiusa and her horse bf. It had no Haruka, like at all, so that was a massive downgrade. It was still better than s1 and s2 though.

Season 5 was the other Good One imo, what it does with the guardian lore is pretty cool and Seiya was a fun character. Also Haruka comes back for this one and she's still great despite the different directors, so this is my second favourite season.

Anyway, I'm kinda scared to start reading arc three in the manga because I heard they're quite different. I hope I like manga!Haruka too…

Wakfu Season 4

Hrm, we're back here huh.

So Wakfu season 4 was good, great, amazing and then also bad in very predictable ways.

I have been actively holding myself from commenting on it before. Specifically because I think some of the frustration I have vented about this show before was a tad vitriolic and I'm not happy with it anymore.

But it's been years since then. I've changed and grown a lot (for the better I'm hoping) and Wakfu and its primary author also have undergone changes of their own, so no harm in going back in and talking about the new season, right?

Wakfu season 4 starts a new leaf for the direction of the show. The brotherhood of the forgotten is promptly send their way in the first episode so we can dive in the new story at hand.

I will be honest I expected nothing at all going into this, negative, positive or otherwise, which is why I was quite pleasantly surprised at first.

The first few episodes are pretty good, the general direction of the show is very solid, telling the story at hand in a more competent manner than the unfortunate s3 had prior.

The new characters introduced are very intriguing, especially the Eliatrope goddess and Torross. The animation is incredible, which is to be expected frankly, Wakfu always had good animation, but its no lie this season went a bit harder than usual. Nora's journey and the Eliatrope Goddess backstory sequence are still in my mind months later.

While I've never really been in love with the main characters, I did like the changes made to them and their dynamics in contrast to the slog that was s3.

The direction of the story also managed to keep me invested in them, at least up to the point where it seemed the big bad was going to get pummeled not with an 'EPIC BATTLE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS' but simple sticks and stones for a change.

But sadly as soon as that possibility faded from the horizon, so did my attention.

A glaring problem with this season for me is that a few too many of the plot threads laid out have been left aside for a later one/different potential stories. Because of this some characters just go in directions that I don't particularly feel made for a compelling continuation or exit from their established stories.

I'm not really happy with what the mechasm was dragged in to contribute to the narrative at all. I was super stoked to see it but it was massive a let down it just gets reduced to a power source to replace the eliacube…. The eliasphere…… My god, this just fucking sucks, ESPECIALLY so if that's supposed to be the point, why go out of the way to glorify Qilby's actions this time around, come the fuck on.

(The showdown between them was pretty cool though and it was incredibly funny Qilby had that one sexist line towards the mechasm around the end, what the fuck is wrong with him?? good god)

Aspargone was way way better characterized this season, her 'gaslight, gatekeep, feed the orphans' shtick is funny as hell. I was just not pleased she didn't get to have proper closure with Ruel. I don't think their story needs to drag on further than this season and I kinda hope it doesn't.

Torross was cool but does not feel like he was dealt with in any meaningful way. I understand he has to stay alive because he needs to exist and show up across the games that are set in the past or future of the story in s4, but I find that a flimsy excuse for the underwhelming finale.

Yugo doesn't seem to have learned anything meaningful from him, just has potential to reflect upon what happened in a future story and that just doesn't feel like a satisfying ending to all this. (Oropo bringing some arguement in the narrative against Yugo acquiring more power doesn't matter to me. There has not been one instance of Oropo trying to fix things that was good or benefited anyone at all and he's also boring as hell and I don't give a shit what he has to say.)

I'm also somewhat annoyed that Torross's backstory is as vague as it is cause it's quite interesting and I wanted to know more about what sort of place his planet used to be. Why does it only seem to have hosted three gods etc etc.

Nora's demise was another let down. She was the character I was most invested in and I was really hoping she would be added to the main cast.

Like, finally we get an eliatrope who's actually grown on me, her design was made to cater to me specifically and she has A LOT of potential character development she could undergo laid out and… She just gets canned end of the season?

I will only reconsider my frustration over this if she comes back in the future somehow, sheesh. :v

Eliatrope is the character I was most pleased with (while not my fave, I think she's the most well-rounded). It's very cool how she has an air of uncanniness to her that never quite leaves no matter how much of wet puppy she acts at times. I don't believe her side of the story is all there is to it and again, while I'm not happy it was left for another arc, I hope whatever we get about the gods' lore lives up to the unease she's build up.

Pinpin is the character I have the most mixed feelings about. He's back to be the amicable doofus he used to be, which is great and he's now kinda(?) better taking in that he's a grown man with a wife and three kids.

His character development is not unwelcome, same as Yugo's, I'm glad they're not being little dipshits anymore, but I feel like that change has come out of left field a bit.

We never get to see what drove either character to mellow out of the negative growth they've undergone in the OVAs and S3. And yeah it's good Pinpin finally got around to telling Eva, his wife that he has three kids with, that he loves her for the first time in their relationship, but holy shit that sucks so fucking much. I feel so bad for Eva.

So yeah, I think this season was way way better than last one. Not enough that I'm wholly in love with it, but I think some of the ways it failed for me won't be present for a future season.

The 'brotherhood of the tofu' in my opinion should be left behind to tell different stories about different characters in this universe, cause they're not particularly compelling, and especially Eva/Pinpin and their kids really feel like screentime that would be better used on other characters.

They could work better as assisting characters, you know? It might help a lot with their screentime quality if what development they get is more purposeful and measured.

Overall this season really felt like it was setting up for a future one to its own detriment. More focus should have been placed in making this a great season that can stand on its own two feet and be watched individually, than a season that is leaking plots left and right in favor of the transmedia narrative.

A good balance between those two has not been reached yet, but it feels closer in this season than it was before… I really hope if and whenever a new show or season comes out, I'll be pleasantly surprised once again.

Vocaloids, figures and other escapades

So I've ventured back into Vocaloid recently and it's been quite interesting to see how the fandom around them has changed since I was last here. Main reason for my return is that I've gotten into collecting figures, specifically Mikus, insane how there's like a bazillion of them btw, and that got me curious about Vocaloids again.

While the fandom is still going strong, it is, at least in terms of global marketing, wholly under Miku's chokehold. A fact that I don't like so much frankly, it would be nice if more vocaloids, none-crypton vocaloids, got their time in the spotlight too. But anyway...!

Here's my most favorite figure I got this year!

I bought her secondhand earlier this year. She was super cheap cause her standing leg was slightly damaged and coming off where it connected to her leotard. Gluing her back was a bit of a challenge but I pulled through and now she looks good as new!

I really like her outfit and expression here and I think its of her best figures for its price range… It's just good, I love it a lot.

Also, Vocaloid unrelated, by I have nowhere else to put this, please look at this tiny ass Haruka keychain I got……

She's so tiny I had to leave her hanging on my pinboard, I'm scared that if I put her on my keys with the rest of my keychains she'll be obliterated within a couple of days. And if anything happens to her I'll kill everyone in this room etc etc.

I really wish Haruka got more figures, esp of her civilian outfits. All her figures that I actually like are sadly garage kits that I have no way of getting….

Merch aside, I did my first cosplay in over 10-15 (idr?) years for comic con! And it was not a poorly thought out closet cosplay this time (I did still replace some parts of it with clothes I had I thought better fit what the outfit is supposed to look like a bit better). I've been slowly gathering this outfit for a year or so and finally I was able to go as Kenshi Yonezu's Sand Planet Miku. I had already decided the cosplay would be a Miku and his music was the reason I first got into vocaloids so... it was only fitting I would start with this one, it's one of my most favourite of his Miku designs.

Cosplaying was something I enjoyed way more than I expected to and I might try to get my hand on more costumes in the future (I have my eyes on Haruka in her mustard suit as a possible next one, but only time will tell if I actually do that one)

Despite how fun it is however, the public interactions that cosplaying encourages are a bit of a strain on my social anxiety, no matter how pleasant they have been so far. I don't plan to stop because of this but fingers crossed I'll get better about it in the future.

Anyway to close the vocaloid segment here's some bangers that came out this year that I really love:

youtube

Monitoring by Deco*27

I'll be honest I'm a bit lukewarm on some of Deco's songs, even if it's incredible how he uses Miku and I'm amazed how far he's come as a producer. Him swapping out of using Gumi for Miku and then even re-releasing Mozaik Role with Miku is an affront to me specifically and I will never forgive him for that.

That being said he really ate with this one, fantastic song, I love the MV so much.

youtube

Donut Hole by Hachi

We are SO BACK!! Not a new song by any stretch of the imagination, but the MV for it sure is new and also the first vocaloid related post we have gotten from Kenshi Yonezu in years. I'm kinda livid about it also, I love the new designs for the girls and how chainsawman-esque it is! I'm also pretty sure that's SF-A2 Miki as the villain and Kaai Yuki as the child character which just really makes me happy...

I don't know if this means more of his old songs have the potential to receive an animated MV, I hope it does, but if not I'm super happy we got this one at least.

youtube

Awoo by Van de Shop

This song was an entry for the Project Voltage event that happened late last year/start of this (2023-2024) and I love everything about it. The art is insanely beautiful, it's ghost pokemon themed (based), very catchy and it really makes me nostalgic of my early days in the fanbase.

I love this song a lot and this producer is nuts for using Meiko this well, I'm honestly impressed.

youtube

Intergalactic Bound by Yunosuke & CircusP

This one I'm a bit ambivalent about, I don't quite like the commercial-ness it emits but... It's a pretty good song and I really love the MV and the designs Miku has here, especially the last one. It's a very fitting song to celebrate the 10th Miku Expo and since I did attend that, this song is very special to me...

Now for Some Youtube recs!

I'll have to plug in Toaster first and his insane ability to make an incredible amount of Let's Plays. Thanks to his channel I've been able to get to experience a lot of games I don't really have the time to go through myself. He's doing whole series runs of games like Castlevania, Silent Hill, Panzer Dragoon, Zone of the Enders and many, MANY more.

His Up Late With 'X' videos are also very insightful reviews of the series he talks about in them and I really recommend them.

Also if you're like me and you like to watch all the videos on a channel you've just found and you loved, I wish you godspeed cause I have been defeated in this game for the first time OTL....

Ben G Thomas is a paleontology channel that covers a variety of discoveries from dinosaurs, to sharks, to worms, to weird fucked up shrimps both old and historic ones and recent ones. I have learned a lot from this channel so it's very dear to me, and I'm glad to slowly be brainwashed to actually remember the names of species etc.

Also one of this channel's segments, 7daysofscience, that covers more broad weekly science news was recently moved to its own channel, so check that out too if you're interested!

Ok, now I started following a CJ th X while ago because their videos are very very entertaining and they post banger after banger not gonna lie. 'Noface is an Incel' honestly improved the way I viewed that character, sure its been a really long time since I saw that movie but I don't think I had really ever considered this angle. Another I really like is the more recent 'How Jordan Peterson's Suits Taught Me Fashion', this video has a lot of interesting things to say about the social aspects of gender and I'm honestly very here for it.

And that's all, I'm glad I got to the end of writing all this and if you read up to here, thank you for sticking along!

#long post #looong fucking post #neuro rambles #sailor moon #wakfu season 4 #vocaloid #toaster williams #ben g thomas #cj the x #finally finished writing all this OTL #Youtube

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