#likely just bad planning but it's more noticeable since she played a decently notable role in star

[rookflower]

btw the erins better NOT confirm a father for floatshimmer's kids bc unless it's a secret boyfriend her own age outwith her clan there is no way it isn't going to be supremely weird

[gascon-en-exil]

Who Can Say if I've Been Changed For the Better?: Ferdibert Does Wicked

This concept has been a bit in building. It started from a much-loved cover by Hubert and Ferdinand’s VAs inspired by their support line and the broad observation that these two are a musicals couple who absolutely would sing their feelings in all manner of theatrical AUs. It continued through my later observation that there’s ample material to carry that idea even further, albeit with a shift outside of Crimson Flower for a better tonal match. Still, I’m not quite sure what to call this project; it’s not really a headcanon nor is it fanfic by any means. I’ve written a handful of longform character/narrative explorations before, although when it comes to FE I’ve previously been inspired to do so only for Jugdral characters. That setting is somehow both underdeveloped and deceptively dense - and I suppose in a way you could say the same of Three Houses as well, insofar as it’s been incredibly popular for fan content of all sorts.

Regardless of what this post is in terms of my fandom output, the following isn’t exactly a Wicked AU as such. Rather, it’s how I would envision a hypothetical blend of the non-CF routes of FE16 centering around the Eagles trio and set to the structure and songs of the musical as organically as possible. There are no 1:1 analogues with characters and plotlines from Wicked, because few if any would exist without a lot of tweaking; to use the VA cover example, Ferdinand might be a decent proxy for G(a)linda, but the mere presence of Edelgard substantially complicates Hubert’s claim to the Elphaba role. The similarities only unravel further from there, but I did my best.

Writing this out gave me the opportunity to play around with Edelgard’s character as a way of addressing what I and many others in my circle have long considered to be some of the major problems with her canon presentation. For Ferdibert meanwhile I got to make use of my headcanons for how their relationship would develop outside of their support line, in a way that mostly preserves Hubert’s delightful evil wickedness. Add some ruminations on how one would splice together the non-CF routes in a dramatically satisfying fashion, some snark directed at the non-character of Byleth, and a bit of background Dimidue/Lions OT5 for spice and that just about sums it up. Enjoy this…whatever this is.

Act I

“No One Mourns the Wicked”

The show opens on the citizens of Adrestia celebrating the death of their emperor and the end of her bloody war. Ferdinand rides in, resplendent on his steed, and is hailed as the new Duke Aegir as he relates to the crowd the news of Edelgard’s death at the hands of the combined army of liberators. The “Are people born wicked?” flashback sequence is replaced with a summary mostly in pantomime of Edelgard’s backstory: the Insurrection, her being taken to Faerghus and then returning, and then being experimented on by the Agarthans before agreeing to work with them. Notably Hubert is not named or referenced anywhere in this song, appearing only as a boy at Edelgard’s side at appropriate times during the flashback.

“Dear Old Shiz”

Someone in the crowd finally brings up Hubert, the emperor’s vile and murderous minister, and accuses Ferdinand of having been his friend. With Ferdinand even more flustered than Glinda since his “It depends on what you mean by friend” definitely carries sexual undertones, so begins the flashback to Part 1. There’s an equivalent intro of Garreg Mach, so one may feel free to insert any headcanons for school songs here. The following dialogue scene establishes the student body in general and the dynamic of the Eagles trio in particular: Ferdinand pompous and eager to one-up Edelgard at any opportunity, and Edelgard and Hubert cold and dismissive toward his antics and just about everyone else for that matter. Edelgard is instantly enamored of the quiet new professor, of course. Because the room assignment conflict doesn’t make a lot of sense with the monastery’s setup, instead Ferdinand is incensed that Edelgard is chosen as the Eagles’ house leader over him even though it’s been ages since a Hresvelg has attended. Neither Nessarose nor Morrible has an exact equivalent (although Seteth can act in Morrible’s role as the academy’s main authority figure), so the segue into the next song ends there.

“The Wizard and I”

Now alone together, Edelgard and Hubert have a brief dialogue outlining their villainous plans for the school year. This establishes Hubert’s hypercompetency but also how detached and professional Edelgard is around him. Then comes the song, now “My Lady and I,” which serves as Hubert’s character introduction. In tones more sinister than Elphaba ever reaches - you know he’d have fun with “When people see me they will scream” - he outlines his history with his lady, that he delights in serving her because she validates his work ethic and gives him an outlet for his ruthlessness and cruelty. Where Elphaba fantasizes about the Wizard removing her green skin, Hubert instead goes full Nice Guy, believing that once he’s given Edelgard her continental empire and crushed all her enemies she’ll be so grateful that of course she’ll put out for him.

“What Is This Feeling?”

You could rip the tone of this one directly from the Ferdibert C support and change nothing - homoerotic subtext included. I like the thought of Hubert replacing Elphaba’s deadpan one-word summation of Galinda with a mocking imitation of Ferdinand's most memetic line: "He is Ferdinand von Aegir!". The chorus can be made up of any number of other students excluding Edelgard, who’d happily agree that Hubert is ugly, creepy, and downright unpleasant.

“Something Bad”

The content of this song and surrounding scenes would have to be completely altered, but they work as a necessary reminder that the plot of Part 1 is still going on in the background of all the school drama. Seteth runs through the major events up to Chapter 9 of the game, including the bandit threat, Flayn’s kidnapping, and the experiments on the Remire villagers. The audience/accompaniment for this exposition dump ought to be Dimitri and Claude with Byleth as a silent observer (more on them later), with Edelgard brushing off the news and eventually being the one to shut down the song as Morrible does. There could be some small side character moments in here as well particularly involving the Lions and Deer since they get so little focus in this story.

“Dancing Through Life”

Speaking of which, this was an awkward sequence to place. It matches up chronologically with the ball in Chapter 9 and the main part, Fiyero’s, is a dead ringer for Sylvain and his flirty, hedonistic nihilism (“Nothing matters / but knowing nothing matters!”), but it’s hard to tie into what’s going on with the Eagles trio particularly with the Ferdibert timeframe preserved, i.e. unlike Elphaba and Galinda they don’t become closer until after the timeskip.

As such I see this song as an opportunity for little vignettes with the other students: Dimitri angry over how Dedue’s talked about and hoping they can share a dance (fitting contrast with the coldness of Edelbert), Felix prickly between Dimitri’s recent outbursts and Sylvain’s showboating, Claude hinting toward the bigger picture with Hilda flitting between her excitement over the dance and knowing more than she's letting on, Dorothea casually taking note of Edelgard’s fascination with Byleth (see just below), Bernadetta as a wallflower who doesn’t want to be disturbed (a setup for Act II), etc. Thanks to one of the Forging Bonds events in Heroes I had the thought that the "You/we deserve each other" through line that later gets attached to Nessarose can become one for Dimitri's relationships, with Felix initially throwing it out at him and Dedue and the two of them then turning "We deserve each other" into a romantic line...and then an ironic one and finally a triumphant one come Act II, by that point with Felix et al included as well.

I’m not sure that the following scene of Galinda and Elphaba bonding on the dance floor really needs an equivalent, although it could be altered to something Edeleth-related. In any case Ferdinand ought to get a dance scene of some nature, so he can try to show up Edelgard as he brags about in canon.

“Popular”

It would be a travesty to have a musical starring FE16’s cast and not give Dorothea and/or Manuela a solo. This song works quite well for the former, and it doesn’t intrude on the Ferdibert development with the aforementioned timeframe and how the lightly sapphic vibe doesn’t translate well to two guys. Dorothea has taken note of her good friend Edie’s crush on their mysteriously wooden professor, and she senses the opportunity for a makeover. Not as exaggerated as Dorothea trying to make over Hubert, naturally, but I still think this works out well. Also, Galinda’s observation on leaders, “Did they have brains or knowledge? / Don’t make me laugh! They were popular!”, is darkly comedic when said to Edelgard.

“I’m Not That Girl”

This song comes with preceding dialogue scenes for setup, so those first. Edelgard emerges fresh from her makeover (given her general hot for teacher fixation, I’m thinking she’d lean pretty hard on the naughty schoolgirl look) to Byleth silently grieving Jeralt’s death - bad timing there. She’s as callous about it as she is in canon, only now with more clumsy flirting, and while it’s impossible as always to tell if Byleth notices or cares Hubert most certainly does. The scene segues into the Eagles trio together, with Edelgard alluding to the upcoming events in the Sealed Forest and indicating that Hubert should meet up with her later for some more villainous scheming after he’s ditched Ferdinand. Ferdinand, indignant about being left out of the loop as he is in canon, grumpily points out that he was a much more splendid dancer at the ball than Edelgard, makeover or not. To his utter surprise, Hubert acknowledges that this is true before leaving. This leads into the actual song, altered from homoerotic via triangulation of desire to an outright sexual awakening for Ferdinand. He realizes that part of his jealousy toward Edelgard is that he wishes Hubert were devoted to him instead, and tells himself not to get his hopes up because he’s, well, not that girl or even a girl. We shall of course leave aside how anyone could be attracted to someone as repulsive as Hubert; that’s part of the inherent comedy of this pairing.

“One Short Day”

This was the hardest song to place in this whole project. The touristy trip to the Emerald City just doesn’t have an analogue in the story of Three Houses, especially not late in Part 1 when tension is mounting toward the upcoming reveal and war. It took me a while to realize that it works wonderfully as an Edeleth piece: Edelgard invites Byleth to Enbarr for her coronation, but that scene is left offscreen in favor of a light romp through the city that further highlights Edelgard’s crush as well as her emotional immaturity in spite of everything she’s about to do. She just wants to have a fun day out and take in the sights and eat sweets with her beloved teacher, and it’s all very “Edge of Dawn”-esque where Edelgard knows she’s about to do terrible things that will change everything forever and hopes to prolong the time until she has to take that step. Adjustments to the lyrics could even work in reference to that song to make the similarities more apparent. An awkward/funny issue here is that I envision Byleth to be totally silent throughout this musical with no sung or spoken parts, which would naturally make them having a duet impossible and make Edelgard’s fascination with them even weirder. Even their gender should be left ambiguous throughout, somehow never confirmed if it’s m!Byleth or f!Byleth. It would take a lot of reworking, but I can see the value in it.

“A Sentimental Man”

The core of the Wizard’s character is not all that different from Rhea’s. Both were thrust unexpectedly into positions of authority that required them to enact a large-scale deception to maintain their power/safety, and both are driven somewhat by parental feelings. The tone of the Wizard’s songs doesn’t align well with Rhea, but once you cut out the vaudeville and do some rewording I could see this one working as Rhea addressing her child (among other things) Byleth at the Holy Tomb just before the Flame Emperor reveal. Of course the dramatic irony hits differently; Rhea knows who and what Byleth is whereas the Wizard doesn’t learn about Elphaba until the end of the show. Nonetheless this would still establish Rhea’s character and motivations as well as set the stage for the impending betrayal.

“Defying Gravity”

Said betrayal being Byleth’s, who decides to stand by Rhea and condemn Edelgard as the Flame Emperor when she arrives with her army. This is another song in parts that would need to be broken up. Edelgard gets the bulk of it, but the middle sections between Elphaba and Glinda could work as a kind of separated duet with Edelgard and Hubert attempting to convince Byleth and Ferdinand respectively to join them. Because of Byleth’s silence only Ferdinand can reply in song; only he and Edelgard add the “my friend” bit to the end of this segment, to illustrate the unevenness of Edeleth and Ferdibert at this point in the story. Then things turn to full bombast, albeit darker than in Wicked proper. Edelgard does the belting, Hubert’s sinister laughter reverberates below her (would it be too tasteless for him to be leering up her skirt the whole time?), Ferdinand has Glinda’s mournful “I hope you’re happy!” toward Hubert, and through this and the reprise of “No One Mourns the Wicked” the major events of the timeskip are enacted in pantomime or silhouette. Byleth tumbles off a cliff, Rhea is taken captive as is Dimitri but Dedue rushes after him, and Claude makes a tactical retreat. Side note: “And if I’m flying solo, / at least I’m flying free” is classic Edelgard fixating on Byleth and forgetting that Hubert exists.

Act II

“Thank Goodness”

A surprisingly tough one here. The core of the song, pivoting around the double meaning of “I couldn’t be happier,” suits early Part 2 Ferdinand perfectly, second-guessing his choice and, outside of CF, melancholy about fighting his homeland. In terms of plot it’s an easy translation too, with the crowd announcing the terrible things the Empire has been doing to win its war - persecuting believers, abducting civilians and turning them into Demonic beasts, consorting with inhuman shadowy figures who can disguise themselves as ordinary people - and the assembly working as a way to bring together the leads of the three routes: Byleth, Dimitri (who had Dedue always at his side and thus never had a full psychotic break), Claude, and Seteth, with Ferdinand representing the Adrestian resistance. It’s only the wedding announcement that’s hard to pin down, and I toyed with a number of ideas including Dimidue making yet another public declaration of devotion to one another or Ferdinand planning to follow through with his arranged marriage to Bernadetta they have in their supports (which makes more sense in light of the following sequence). In the end though I don’t think the marriage element is strictly necessary, leaving the song as a means of catching up with the cast five years later and seeing them united against Edelgard - with Ferdinand’s private regrets the only sour note.

“Wicked Witch of the East”

More a dialogue than a song, but still important. Bernadetta is arguably the Eagle other than Hubert most comfortable supporting Edelgard, because all Edelgard has to do is put Count Varley under house arrest for Bernadetta to sing the emperor’s praises. I can also see her as the same sort of self-centered, negligent ruler that Nessarose becomes in Wicked, not because of an unrequited attraction but because of her reclusive desire to be left alone. I see this scene playing out as Hubert surprising Bernadetta at her estate, angry about rumors that she may be helping the rebels and/or engaged to Ferdinand if going with that plot point after Edelgard has done her the favor of locking up her father. He’s fully prepared to, ahem, “persuade” Bernadetta, but before he can break out the torture implements Ferdinand arrives asking for her to support the rebels’ cause.

Farcical, sure, but it gets the two of them together again after five years and underscores how strong their UST has become in their time apart, with Hubert too flabbergasted to attack a known enemy and Ferdinand expressing how happy he is to see Hubert again despite everything. Each learns that the other isn’t as happy about his chosen path as he’d hoped, in Hubert’s case because his lady has grown ever more distant from him as the war has dragged on. Bernadetta cuts through the tension by bringing things back to the song (sort of) and blurting out that she knows both sides are marshalling their forces near Gronder Field. Ferdinand is too caught up in the fraught romance angle to do more than leave with this new information, but Hubert recovers enough to condemn Bernadetta for her flagrant misrule (venting by inference his frustrations toward Edelgard in the process) and resolve to set her on fire for her treachery.

“I’m Not That Girl (Reprise)”

The Gronder rematch happened offscreen - and Bernadetta was indeed set on fire - and on the Imperial side Edelgard is left increasingly frustrated over her losses and hurt that Byleth still refuses to listen to her and continues to fight her regime. You may notice that I’ve shuffled around the middle of Act II, necessary at this point in order to better line up with FE16’s story and Hubert and Edelgard’s separate narrative climaxes while also ensuring that those climaxes don’t overlap too much. This song is only a brief reprise, but it’s a significant one; Hubert finally realizes that Edelgard will never love him. It’s also kept gender-neutral, because Byleth.

“As Long as You’re Mine”

That segues naturally into this moment. Ferdinand sneaks into Enbarr using his unexpected stealth powers (I usually talk about Dedue having them, but Ferdinand shows he’s no slouch in his Mercedes supports) and encounters Hubert. Their UST boils over in a furor of awkward, impassioned sex and also this song. I like the idea of rewording some of Fiyero's lines to incorporate Hubert's acidic snark: “Maybe you’re brainless, / maybe you’re wise.” It’s all very desperate and sensual, ending with Ferdinand taking Elphaba’s line about feeling wicked for the first time - which will have a dark reverberation two songs from now.

“Wonderful”

Again, axe the vaudeville and it’s a solid Rhea song. There’s just the small problem of Rhea being captured at this point in the plot; I thought about moving this number toward the very end at first before reconsidering. While Hubert and Ferdinand are rolling in the sheets, a distraught Edelgard confronts Rhea in prison. Rhea responds to Edelgard’s frustrations with Byleth with her backstory in song, much more somber than the Wizard but, like him, still willing to rehabilitate her estranged listener. The bits of this song about the nature of history are especially relevant to what Edelgard falsely believes about the church and what she views as her own legacy, so I could see this as an interesting character study on what Edelgard actually wanted with her war apart from dragon genocide. There’s a lot that could be done here in the dialogue surrounding those revelations.

“No Good Deed”

However the interrogation of Rhea turns out, Edelgard takes a leaf out of SS Dimitri’s book and visits Byleth alone at the monastery, only to be as harshly rebuffed as is possible to be without the rebuffer speaking. Then comes this song, which was incidentally the one where I realized that Edelgard would need a major role in FE16-does-Wicked even with the Ferdibert focus. Hubert fully embraced his evil wickedness long ago and wouldn’t think twice about being wicked or being perceived as such, but Edelgard is a different matter. Here she breaks down, admitting that her good intentions were largely selfish and that she regrets that her war has cost her any relationship she could have had with Byleth (continuing the joke at his expense, Hubert goes unmentioned when Edelgard names the people she’s lost/failed). It ends with a foreshadowing of her Hegemon form, the sign that she’s abandoned all pretense of goodness and become truly wicked.

“March of the Witch Hunters”

Another ensemble/vignette piece, checking in with the various members of Byleth’s army as they prepare to storm Enbarr. Dimitri hopes for the chance to forgive his stepsister, Claude has big plans for the continent and wants to remove the threat Edelgard poses, Seteth is desperate to find Rhea, and Byleth…is there. As in many of the songs, the self-righteousness of the crowd here rings more sincere and less hypocritical than in Wicked given Three Houses has actual villains, but it still works.

“For Good”

The song that inspired this whole thing, now with many paragraphs of context to set it up instead of only some fluff based on the Ferdibert A+ support. Ferdinand sneaks into Enbarr (again) ahead of the battle, and their second love ballad is more somber as they resign themselves to their fates. As in the VA cover, Hubert refuses to ask forgiveness for anything and Ferdinand is fine with that.

“Finale”

Wicked reduces the final battle from The Wizard of Oz to silhouettes backed by sections of “No One Mourns the Wicked,” and that’s what comes here: Ferdinand and Hubert facing each other in battle, Edelgard becoming the Hegemon before being defeated and then dying as in AM’s final cutscene, and Dimitri taking the throne with Dedue at his side and proclaiming his intention to do all he can to restore both the Kingdom and Duscur - and that his first act as king is to announce that he and Dedue have decided to open their marriage up. This is met with much manly cheering and stripping and someone (Ashe?) saying incredulously that he didn’t even know they were married. End silhouettes.

The final scene with the Wizard and Morrible becomes Claude, Seteth, and Byleth rescuing Rhea. Rhea names Byleth her successor as leader of the church and says that she will go into quiet seclusion and do what she can to correct her mistakes. This all suits Claude just fine, who tells everyone that he’s off to take care of some other business and that Byleth will make a great archbishop - and also they can have the Alliance, no big deal. As with the King of Faerghus’s gay orgies, the King of Almyra’s grand ambitions are too large for this story to do more than allude to.

Next, Ferdibert does a version of the Elphaba/Fiyero scene, with Ferdinand revealing that he had Hubert spared on the condition that he help root out any remaining Agarthans and that he remain under house arrest at the Aegir estate. Ferdinand was also required to assume governance of the Empire, because Dimitri wasn’t getting that dumped on him as well. They can be together, but the general population can’t know that Hubert survived lest Ferdinand’s reputation and basic ethics be compromised…which in a darkly funny hypocritical twist then segues to Ferdinand pontificating before the crowd at the beginning of the show, reprising “For Good” with Hubert until they’re drowned out by “No One Mourns the Wicked.” Thus the story concludes on one of my favorite things about Ferdibert: perhaps even in this non-CF continuity Ferdinand wasn’t changed for the better by falling in love with the Most Wicked Man in Fódlan, but they’ve both been changed….

[megaboy335]

Mega’s Top 2020 Anime

The year 2020 is finally coming to an end. It’s been an unusual year to say the least. Coronavirus more or less almost cancelled the entire spring anime season, which lead to a strange anime schedule for the rest of the year since delays have trickle down effects to what was in the pipeline. To be completely honest, this was not a good year for anime. I watched only a handful of very good shows, and the rest were mediocre at best. The top 5 shows I talk about here are definitely worth watching at least.

So with the introduction out of the way, lets get into this. As usual this list is just my opinions. Don’t take it too seriously.

1) Kaguya-sama Love is War? (Season 2)

The second season of Kaguya-sama took everything from season 1 and brought it up a level. The visual gags became more impressive, the voice acting was just as good, and the show is delivering sharper writing as we get deeper into the manga. 

Season 2 added two new notable aspects to the show. First, a new member to the main cast by the name of Iino. She adds a new angle to exploit for the skits as someone who adheres strictly to the rules. This often means Iino and Kaguya frequently bump heads. In fact how they interpret a situation can be entirely different, which creates numerous misunderstandings between them. Second, Kaguya-sama began expanding the skits into long form stories. There were a series of skits that form an arc spanning an entire episode, or in some cases multiple episodes. Episode 11 was the highlight of the season where Ishigami confronted his past to overcome the bad stigma surrounding his character. Additionally, the story added depth to his connection with Shirogane while making us realize there was more to Ishigami than meets the eye. Kaguya and Shirogane also both became a little closer as the tangled web of their schemes yielded unexpected results at times.

Kaguya-Sama has an ova and season 3 planned. I eagerly look forward to seeing what new crazy situations the characters find themselves in. 

2) A Certain Scientific Railgun T (Season 3)

After waiting 6 years since the conclusion of season 2, the Railgun anime finally returned to adapt two more arcs from the manga. 

The first half was a Railgun version of the Daissheisai Festival arc. This version focuses on a completely different event in the arc with a story involving Misaki, Misaka, and Dolly. It pulls us deeper into the story threads established in the Level Upper and Sisters arc of what the scientists were doing out of the public eye. We meet the original Misaka clone and how Misaki came to meet her which adds a new layer to the current Misaka and Misaki relationship that we never knew. We see how Misaki is also a victim of the dark experiments occurring behind the scenes in Academy City. The experiment to turn Misaka into a level 6 was a very hype moment. Railgun’s Daissheisai Festival arc definiely hit all the right notes.

The second half of Railgun season 3 was the Dream Ranker arc. Like in previous seasons, I found the 2nd cour arc to be weaker than the first half. Indian Poker is a fun concept, but didn’t cleanly tie into the overall story. I also found it weird how special cards that can exchange dreams suddenly exist out of nowhere. Additionally, this arc brought it characters from the Accelerator spin-off which I wasn’t familiar with. It had a few cool and funny moments scattered throughout. The final fight at least brought the conflict to a satisfying conclusion. The only thing holding back Railgun for me like always is my lack of knowledge of the greater Raildex universe. Hopefully this won’t be the last we see of Railgun in animated form because I picked up the manga and the next arc is pretty neat.

3) The Journey of Elaina

The Journey of Elania is an anthology-centric anime where we follow Elania on her adventures. The first episode is a prologue to how she became a witch and the origins of her ambitions. Episode 2-onwards follow a fairly straightforward template of Elania arriving at a new location. She notices something isn’t quite right or learns about something from a local. As the story unfolds, Elania often takes a backseat role and opts to watch things playout. An anime of this style always brings a mixed bag to the table with the kind of stories that are told within the universe. Each episode/adventure is only loosely connected through the main character Elania traveling to a new location, but otherwise they are mostly independent besides a handful of recurring characters. 

Naturally this format means there are both great and not so good episodes. There are bitter sweet tales, comedic, and even a few darker entries mixed within this show. In particular, there were a few standout episodes that cemented this show as something worth watching. Episode 7 was a comedy episode split into two halves. One half showed how two towns divided by a wall were ironically doing the same thing to the wall on each side. The second half recalled how Elania accidentally started a grape stomping tradition in a tiny village. Then there was episode 9, the darkest entry of the show so far, when Elania went back in time to help someone save their childhood friend. However, this person came to realize she hardly knew what her childhood friend was really like. Lastly, the last episode was unexpectedly deep where Elania met various alternate versions of herself and had to confront a dark version spawn from the events in episode 8. It showed how her journey can take all sorts of directions if events had transpired even a little differently.  

A high part of the appeal to me was never knowing what kind of story we would get each week. Was it going to be light-hearted? Serious? Would it focus on Elania or not? Her adventures were certainly full of unexpected happenings. The light novels are 17 volumes in and still going. I wouldn’t mind seeing more if they ever wanted to make another season.

4) Tonikaku Kawaii

From the prolific author Kenjiro Hata comes an anime adaptation of his newest work under the “Crunchyroll Originals” label. The story is simply about a guy who is head over heels for his new wife and can’t get over how awesome it is living with her. Tonikaku Kawaii is a simple show that chooses to highlight the little moments between our main couple Nasa and Tsukasa. We go through all sorts of everyday events with them such as the act of buying a ring, a new television, bedding, and meeting each other’s family. All the characters are so earnest you can’t help but enjoy their silly banter. There is little to no drama here to drive the story forward. You just get to enjoy a newlywed couple discovering new things about each other as they go through everyday life.

However, at the end of the day Tonikaku Kawaii is far from complete and is honestly the type of show that likely wouldn’t make my list most years. It hardly scratched its overarching story during the 1 cour run. The thing that put it over the top for me was simply how likable each of its characters were. They all present their emotions like an open book and you come to enjoy the little quirks of each one. I was slightly confused at how this show became a “Crunchyroll Original” when anything by Hata would have probably gotten an anime sooner or later. There are plenty of other Weekly Shonen Sunday series that could really use an outside force to help them get animated. I can only hope it did well enough for Crunchyroll to consider investing into more from the magazine .

 5) Ahiru no Sora

As usual, my list usually contains at least 1 show that began in the previous year. Ahiru no Sora is an anime that not a lot of people watched, but became one of my favorites each week. This is a 4 cour basketball series about a main character named Sora who is too short for basketball. Despite this set-back, he has a deep passion for the game imparted from his mother and wishes to someday find the same success as she did at the sport. The story begins when he enrolls in a new school and has to build the basketball club from scratch. However, the catch is the basketball team is basically non-existent. He ends up creating a team from a group of unlikely people: the ones who were bullying him. Ahiru no Sora presents a down to earth human side to the sport. There are no fantasy or supernatural elements found in this story. It follows a group of rough around the edges guys whose lives gets back in order through playing basketball together.

All of the main characters go through a decent amount of growth as their personal stories are explored, and Sora especially is taken through a series of events that allow his character to grow more than anyone. I was pleasantly surprised at how emotional it got at times. There was some real heart put into this series. In the middle of the show it genuinely felt the team had hit rock bottom. They lost a major game, the club room was lit on fire, and Sora lost his mother all right in a row. It was the recovery from that period and how each member matured from their experiences that solidified Ahiru no Sora as one of the top shows this year. The only thing holding back the show is that it's left incomplete since the manga is on-going (and actually on hiatus at the moment). I hope there will be an opportunity down the road to have more episodes.

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Disappointments of 2020

1) Deca Dence

I enjoyed Death Parade, Mob Psycho 100, and Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer was pretty good too. So I figured another original anime from Tachikawa Yuzuru would be something I would like, and yet Deca Dence barely resonated with me. I could never wrap my mind around the setting of the show where robots would enter an alternate world called “Deca Dence” for sport or how these robots had a human persona in the game. The humans were effectively NPCs in the game to the eyes of the robots. The show no doubt had a story it wanted to tell, and it certainly went through the plot beats it wanted to hit, yet I could never get invested in the show. I’m still looking forward to whatever Tachikawa Yuzuru does next. I’ll just consider this as something was not for me.

2) The Day I Became God

This show marks Jun Meada’s 3rd anime original project with P.A. Works. I understand that Angel Beats and Charlotte are flawed shows, but that did not stop them from being enjoyable for me. This unfortunately did not apply to The Day I Became God. At a base level it has many of the usual troupes you would expect from a Jun Meada title: the humor, baseball, an emotionally driven story. The place where this shows failed hard was having no backbone to back up the story it was trying to present. I enjoyed the comedy in the early episodes quite a bit and was somewhat intrigued by a subplot in the background that was slowly creeping up on the main plot. Ending each episode on a countdown to the end of the world helped to keep a looming sense of unease during the early part of the show.

Then in typical Jun Meada fashion, the plot of the show hit all at once. Episode 9 was the big climax where the subplot and main plot collided to send the show into its “true” storyline. The hacker kid who uncovered everything about Hina in the early part was poorly utilized and underdeveloped. So when he joins our main group in episode 10 for a short period of time, his presence makes very little sense. I can only describe that part as a 10 hour VN plot condensed into 10 minutes. The male lead Narukami has almost no personal stake in the story. Hina is hilarious in the comedy episodes, but lacks any sufficient character arc built up to carry her into the final section. Jun Meada is trying to sell this as a love story between Narukami and Hina, but I just don’t see it. Narukami spent at least half the summer trying to wow his childhood friend only to suddenly change at the last minute. It felt so haphazardly put together.

The Day I Became God is an extremely bare bones Jun Meada story. It goes through the motions of similar elements to his previous works, but comes out feeling emotionally hollow. While Angel Beats and Charlotte also felt rushed in the grand scheme, I can at least say he got the emotional aspect right. This will be remembered as one of, if not Jun Meada’s weakest title.

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Top OPs/EDs of the Year

1) Jujutsu Kaisen Opening 1 - The song is great, but it’s the visuals that really sell this opening. Each shot is brilliantly connected to showcase how everything in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen is layered. There is far more than what meets in the eye in our surroundings. Curses and humans co-mingle more than you might think.

2) A Certain Scientific Railgun T Opening 1 - There still hasn’t been a bad Railgun opening yet. Flipside once again delivers a song that once again never failed gets me in the mood for the episode each week. The visuals highlight some of the best action moments in the arc too.

3) Black Clover Opening 10 - Unlike the other songs on the list this year, this a slower somber song. It always makes me think of Nero’s backstory and how the story was leading up to the fight versus the devil. The black and white aesthetic with rain conveys how everything is laid bare for this major story climax.

4) Kaguya-Sama Love is War? Opening - Just like how this season is more character focused, the opening animation is basically a 90 second skit. It never fails to get to get me in the mindset for the hijinks that are ahead in the episode. The song itself is also a great follow up to the previous opening.

5) Rent-a-Girlfriend Opening - It’s a colorful opening that highlights the best aspects of each character. It completely conveys what the show is about with some nice music. I love how fun and upbeat this opening is. It definitely helped to set the tone for the episodes each week.

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....and so, that brings 2020 to a close. The North American anime scene is shifting once again with Sony buying out Crunchyroll. Hopefully the result of the merger keeps Crunchyroll as an entity alive. I’ll be curious to see how everything shakes out. In the coming year I am most looking forward to Chainsaw Man’s anime. The manga is quite an experience and anime viewers will be spinning their heads over learning how such a series was published in Weekly Shonen Jump. I think it has a good chance of being one of the most talked about shows in the new year.

Lets hope 2021 is a good one.

[idolizerp]

LOADING INFORMATION ON JAWBREAKER’S LEAD VOCAL, LEAD DANCE HAN MINJU...

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: Siena CURRENT AGE: 22 DEBUT AGE: 17 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 13 COMPANY: KJH SECONDARY SKILL: Acting

IDOL PROFILE

NICKNAME(S): Sina, given by her fans as a simple shortening of her stage name; Baby Giraffe, given by her family and soon spread among her members and fans, one would think it’s because she supposedly has a long neck but Minju was very tall when she was still a kid and her legs stood out, plus she was very clumsy and got hurt easily; Crying Baby, she cries easily and that’s known to the fans since the day they had their first win with La Ta Ta. INSPIRATION: As for people that she looks up to and aspires to become like them, Minju has in mind a couple of female soloists and groups, like Boa, Lee Hyori and Nixie. They were overall important figures that she had in mind before starting her training and even after when she became a trainee. SPECIAL TALENTS:

Sports: surprisingly, despite her usual clumsy behavior, Minju is very good at sports and events such as ISAC are meant to show that off. She can do archery decently and she has strong legs proper for running fast.

Ice skating: did for a very short while when she was a kid and wanted to become a figure skater. It has been years since she properly practiced but she can still pull a few decent movements.

Tongue twisters: while rapping is not her specialty (not even by far), during her training period Minju was told to practice tongue twisters to be able to improve her pronunciation and her breathing. After debuting, it became something she’d use on variety and radio shows.

NOTABLE FACTS:

Was a student at Hanlim Multi Art School from 2011 to 2014.

Has an older sister who also auditioned to Midas, but differently from Minju, her sister had success in her audition.

Started acting in the webdrama ‘Twenty Years Old’.

Despite all the lack of promotion for HER.oine, Singularity still tried to put Minju in a couple of dramas and fans complained saying she was being selfish for thinking about her career only. 

IDOL GOALS

SHORT-TERM GOALS:

After almost losing this, Minju came to the realization that perhaps she’d miss this career more than she originally anticipated so, as cheesy as it may sound, she wants to make better use of the time she has in her group. Since she was highly criticized for her lack of enthusiasm in the ending years of HER.oine, she wants to prove those comments wrong by showing how invested she is in this, mainly by working in group related schedules and perfecting her performances and stage presence.

LONG-TERM GOALS:

Minju is, in some ways, pretty involved with acting and despite her bad start with it, she truly enjoys that aspect of her career and wishes to move into acting as something serious in the future if given the opportunity by KJH. But acting is not the only way she wants to use to keep herself in the industry and if she’s being true to herself, some wishful thoughts towards a solo career in music also popped up during some occasions.

IDOL IMAGE

She’s seventeen when she debuts, and she’s trilled and nervous and she feels like she’ll throw up as soon as she steps on the stage for their first performance as HER.oine.

She doesn’t and things end perfectly from her part. She’s rushing with adrenaline and pure joy and tears. She finally made it to debut despite of everything. After their debut stage, Minju became addicted to the feeling, of being up there in the spotlights with people cheering and screaming and showing their smiles and singing with them. She’d deal with everything that came with the job if that meant she’d be able to stand on the stage again.

In the beginning, the image they started selling was of a big-eyed, soft featured little sister. She’s young and innocent and that kind of image works well in contrast with her charismatic persona on stage. Singularity may not have done a good job in many things during the time Jawbreaker was still HER.oine but marketing Siena as their little girl with enchanting presence worked well during the four comebacks they had under that name.

Siena is not sweet nor has a stunningly beautiful image, she doesn’t look like a princess who came out from a fairytale and doesn’t speak sweetly or stumble over her words. She’s charming and smiles easily, she also has a funny laugh that is simply contagious. She’s not blunt. She knows her place, knows she must be perfect if she wants people to like her, but the younger child syndrome hits her from time to time and it works because people think it’s adorable. They buy this persona, the easy-going girl who looks wild when she’s performing but when she’s out of it, she’s just a regular-pretty-girl-who-smiles-at-everyone.

She has been acting for a while, but no one really notices. She acts when she’s having a bad day but must keep up with schedules and practice. She acts when she spends the day dieting and she’s starving, but she still says she’s fine. So, when she starts acting professionally, she tries to be extra careful. Siena must fit in the molds, she can’t rush herself, she must be composed and be elegant. She’s not chic, she doesn’t know how to act like that, and a silly smile will often popup in her face because being idol-Siena is much easier than being actress-Siena. That Siena is closer to whom Minju really is even though the real her lives under layers and layers of makeup and fancy-looking clothes. Her fans are happy to see her engage in new projects even if they aren’t necessarily good, some netizens just don’t buy it and say she wants to divert from her original path. The negativity didn’t stop Singularity from trying and suddenly, there she was again.

In KJH nothing much changes. She works with the carefree type of personality. Her fans like it and as far as she knows, what makes them happy, makes the company happy. Things are slightly different about her concept though, she’s nearing her 24ndbirthday in Korea and she wants to show that despite starting very young, she’s now a grown woman, and KJH seems okay to accept that because it will also help to establish a more solid image for their group. They are all grown women now and Siena wants to show them for what they are here for.

IDOL HISTORY

There is not one extraordinary plan. Minju worked with bigger events, big expectations and want to be too many things all at once. From teacher to veterinarian, a professional ice skater or even an artistic gymnast, she thought about following her mother’s career as a radio producer or become a lawyer like her father. Every other week she’d have things figured out and solved in her head, problems that would never happen under her watchful eyes, every other week she’d be something different. At the little age of thirteen she decided she wanted to be a singer and the difference that time was that the idea stuck with her for a long time.

The story of how her parents met remained a mystery in parts because it would slightly change every time any of the kids asked them how it happened. Her mother’s passion for music was evident and her father always looked at her in awe whenever she played some instrument or sang the chorus of a song she dearly appreciated. The three siblings would plan pranks and play for the whole day and in the end, the one thing that worked to sooth them to sleep were the couple of minutes of lullabies or stories told by the grownups.

She didn’t think of her life as boring but perhaps it could look like it for some people.

They grew up listening to music, given their mother’s background with the whole thing. Minju remembered how they tried to teach her music theory when she was younger and how excited she became when she got into class and realized she already knew some of that stuff. Her mother was the one teaching her guitar and sometimes, when she could, she’d sneak Minju into the studio where she worked after weeks of insistence from Minju’s side.

She honestly loved it. She loved music and loved singing and dancing with her father and despite already having a foot in the industry due to her mother’s connections, she didn’t think much about it until her sister mentioned she’d be trying to audition for Midas later that year. In the meantime, she weighted her thoughts. Be an idol was such an appealing idea, but she heard the discussions between her sister and their parents, and her mother specially, didn’t sound very pleased with the idea. Was only when she watched Boa performing on television that she made up her mind and perhaps it could be the aftereffects of the explosions and choreography, but she decided then that she’d be just like her role model. Her mother’s worries could only be normal, after all, she was their mother, so Minju decided to not worry with her worries.

She wasn’t as well prepared as her sister, obviously. Her sister was preparing for this fated day for months while Minju made her mind about it just a couple of weeks prior to the audition. In the end her sister was more successful than her in the attempt to be scouted and Minju felt the mix of happiness but also bitterness swirling inside of her. She remined herself that she couldn’t live out of raw expectations of good and great when she did nothing to deserve it, it didn’t mean the sour feeling simply faded away.

A couple of weeks later when the auditions for Singularity opened, Minju was once again on the game, this time by herself, relatively less confident of a positive response but more well prepared for what was about to come. It happened that since she had low expectations, all the results seem to be better than the expected and when they released the results and she saw she made it in, she was so happy she cried on the spot.

For months she lived just on the adrenaline of being accepted into a company. She trained hard and did all that was asked to her. She tried her best and gave her all, then things started getting lonely and being pushed for longer hours and eating less demanded so much more effort from her, but she refused to give up even though the thought did go through her head more than once after eight months of training.

Singularity wasn’t a company that she necessarily saw herself connect with. She didn’t feel like she had freedom to work herself in the best way, but when they started wanting to push her into acting training all together with the remaining classes she had to take, she started thinking that perhaps they had great plans for her.

When she was about to complete four years in the company, the news of a new girl group under their label were released and she was so excitedly tired when she told her parents that she was one of the trainees chosen to be part of the group.

HER.oine debuted and once again Minju started living under the adrenaline of the following months. And then they went on a hiatus and she became demotivated. The following comebacks were made based in the same formula. A preparation for the next comeback and then she’d be in high spirits while they were able to perform and then she’d be back to an unmotivated state because Singularity was uncapable of promoting them right.

She loved performing and loved being on the stage and that’s probably the main reason why she kept going and endured the entire situation. Because she wanted to give her best while singing to their two songs. She expected more and better of their debut and when she thought things couldn’t turn out sourer, Singularity decided to push her into webdramas that only created conflict among HER.oine’s fans and gave Minju a spot as selfish and greedy for neglecting the girls and having a very premature debut as an actress.

She almost didn’t sign up with KJH when they came from the skies and saved HER.oine from imminent disbandment after the fall of Singularity. Her members were the ones influencing in her decision and in the end, she was won by the pure pressure and insistence of her band mates to sign with them. She almost gave up not because she didn’t like doing it even though idol life was never easy to begin with, but she was so addicted to the feeling of being able to perform and receive the love from the fans that she didn’t mind that the system was a mess and sickening.

She doesn’t mind that they are in the bottom because she never truly felt like they were that high anyways. They have people expecting things from them. KJH wanting to know if they were a good investment, their fans who are probably looking for better management, the members wanting to know if this will work because that’s what she asks herself every day. There are a couple of life trials that she doesn’t know how to deal with, but she tries. Sometimes she gets tired of trying but she keeps going because, in her head, at some point, this will reveal to be worthy of the struggle.

[stopmeifyouvealreadyheardthisone]

History: America’s Greatest Hits

After a brief (and by “brief”, I mean “about 72 hours”) interlude, during which I attempted to figure out what was causing the strange double-tracked drums and vocals, I’m finally back. It turns out that something about the fact that I plugged the turntable into the “mic in” port instead of the “line in” port was causing it to play back twice, with a delay of a few milliseconds between each play. I’m kind of disappointed that ABBA didn’t sound like that all the time, to be honest. 

Tragically, I was attempting to write another post when I noticed that it was time to go to bed. I clicked “save as draft”, but apparently Tumblr requires you to confirm that you want to save your work (shoutout to poor design) after telling it that you wanted to save your work. So when I turned my computer off for the night, I lost the whole post. So let’s pretend that it contained anything worth reading and have a brief moment of wordless animal shrieking to mourn its passing. 

There, didn’t that feel good? Don’t you just feel clean on the inside? Just (he said, shoehorning-it-in-ingly) like the album cover on the outside?

Anyway... on to, I guess, the record. I seem to remember talking shit about California and by extension, Warner Bros. for putting a picture of Burbank on the center label. And the phrase, “Burbank: If You Have to Ask, You Can’t Afford to Live Here”. Because I know very little about California. Burbank in the 70s could be a mine-laden hellscape for all I know. I like that idea better than a paradise, actually. Roving gangs of rival record company executives careening through the streets in armored cars, swerving around bombed-out buildings, taking potshots at anyone with a boombox. 

It’s just what they want you to see! 

The cover has a little brown stain in the corner, but it doesn’t seem to have touched even the inner sleeve, which was a welcome surprise after how warped that ABBA record was. I have hope for this collection again. The vinyl is still in pretty good shape, with a smudged fingerprint or something on it, but no scratches or anything. I don’t know why I’m grading it when I should be listening to it, though. 

There’s really no point in reviewing “A Horse with No Name”. Trying to pretend I’ve never heard it would be impossible. I grew up on classic rock radio, so this song has been part of my life since I was a kid. But for those of you who grew up in Saudi Arabia (i.e. under Iraq), “A Horse with No Name” is a sort of swirly, trippy song. I’m trying to avoid the obvious desert, but this is such a West Coast kind of song that it’s really difficult. It seems to deal with a loss of identity in isolation. 

“I Need You” departs from the parched, wide-open wasteland almost immediately with a lush piano/guitar arrangement and a pretty love song. I’m not sure if it’s become a cliche because of this song, or if it’s been a cliche since Ol’ Billy Shakes was trying to get into womens’ petticoats, but I rather enjoy the mournful chorus: 

“I need you

Like the flower needs the rain

You know, I need you

Guess I’ll start it all again”

I can’t help but feel that it’s excessively literal there, because “You know, I need you/Guess I’ll start it all again/You know, I need you” is the backbone of the entire chorus, repeated so many times that it overshadows the much more interesting lines. 

Up next is a “by special request” song. What does that mean? Did a sick fan send the label a letter begging them to put “Sandman” on the record? Did the band really like this song? It’s certainly not bad. Keeps up the melancholy vibe from “I Need You”, but occasionally dives into jaunty pickin’ sessions. I’m reminded of a cartoon hillbilly who punctuates his stories with lightning-quick banjo rolls instead of spitting tobacco juice. 

You know, because kids might think spitting black slime is cool (spoiler: it totally is. Who do you think was the dinosaur all the kids loved in Jurassic Park? The T. rex? The velociraptor? Fuck no, it’s the one that eats Newman.)

“Ventura Highway” is the first America song I ever heard and bothered to look up. I heard it as a breakbeat remix, which fits the uneasy, shaky rhythm of the song strangely well. I’m just noticing that the entire band seems to be singing, as well as the fact that they make some mention of alligators flying... for some reason... surely nothing to do with California’s role as a hotspot for the American counterculture in the 60s and 70s. They seem to make a precognitive dig at Prince changing his name, as well. 

“Wishin’ on a falling star

Watchin’ for the early train

Sorry boy, but I’ve been hit by 

Purple rain

Aw, come on Joe, you can always

Change your name

Thanks a lot son, just the same.”

Is this album called History, or Prophecy?

“Don’t Cross the River” picks up the pace again, this time with a kind of folksy, bluegrass-y banjo reel courtesy of a one Henry Diltz. Whoever that is, I hope he made a decent chunk of change off of this one, because it wouldn’t be anywhere near as chippper without his pluckin’. I’m noticing that almost all of the tracks on here are credited to different people, with America mostly appearing as “all other instruments”. Was the name America a sort of play on the general population of their instrumental section? 

Another thing I’m noticing looking at the sleeve is that all of these songs were remixed by George Martin. I’m not sure if it’s the George Martin, but if it is, then his version of “Only in Your Heart” makes me wonder how he really felt about the breakup of the Beatles three years earlier. From the plunky piano to the group harmonies to the simple message about sticking with the one you love. Until the song seems to end, and with a slinky guitar dive, it segues into a gorgeously thick electric guitar solo that takes us out of Side 1. 

Something I’m noticing as I slice these recordings up (I’m recording a whole side at a time, then splitting up the tracks all at once) is that the songs on this record flow into each other with almost no gaps. That strikes me as odd for a greatest hits compilation, since the songs were sometimes recorded years apart. Just something odd that I found interesting.

And now for something that made me twitch a little bit. It’s off-center. It’s not properly aligned. It’s on the B-side. And it’s fucking upside-down. Ugh. Come on, Mom. I know it was legal for you to be shitfaced while you were getting ready to head off to college, but don’t embarrass yourself. 

Where to begin with “Muskrat Love”... What the fuck, guys? Honestly, who were you hoping to hide your teenage backseat power ballad from with this shit? At best, this song is about straight-up Discovery Channel animal porn. At worst, it’s... just weird. The singer can’t quite pull off a sexy baby-makin’ croon, and the harmonies just drive home the point that multiple people signed off on the lyrics to this song, and put real effort into the melody, and decided that it would be A-okay to veil the ordinary boy-meets-girl-and-they-bang-in-a-pile-of-hay-or-something romance behind a nature documentary. Bloodhound Gang only pulled it off because they also penned such lyrical epics as “New Vagina” and “Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny”. I’m so bewildered by the inclusion of this song that I missed half of the next one. 

“Tin Man” seems to be a return to sanity. Sort of. I don’t know what it’s talking about, except that the Tin Man got the short end of the stick in The Wizard of Oz. One verse, then two choruses. No solo. I don’t get it.

“Lonely People” might be a return to form. A toe-tapping tragedy for all the broken hearts out there. I’m not sure why they felt the need to go to London to record this one, because apart from losing some of the open, airy, jam-room quality of their earlier songs, I can’t hear much of a difference. Notably, this was produced and arranged from the beginning by George Martin. Perhaps this was his master plan for America: studio perfection.

A different singer comes in to take over lead vocal duties on the next song, a love song about a man desperately hoping to stay out of the dreaded Friend Zone, despite putting almost no effort into his relationship. Better luck next time, unnamed vocalist. Your voice would be better served standing outside “Sister Golden Hair”’s bedroom window than in the studio making a song with literal doo-wops in it. This is another George Martin joint. Produced and arranged. I’m starting to think that maybe George Martin should wait until they’ve recorded the music the way they want before he puts his polished pop hands on it. 

“Flyin’ me back to Memphis

Gotta find my Daisy Jane

Well the summer’s gone

And I hope she’s feelin’ the same

Well I left her just to roam the city

Thinkin’ it would ease the pain

I’m a crazy man and I’m playin’ my crazy game, game.”

You fucked up, man. That was unwise. Now Daisy Jane found another man and you just want her to keep the oven warm for you. Probably so you can put a single solitary bun in it. You wasteful piece of shit. Don’t you know there’s not-really-a-war going on?

The guitars in “Woman Tonight” can only be described in terms of that great classic, “Play That Funky Music”. As in, “they sound like ‘Play That Funky Music’.” There’s some little organ flourishes, but overall, the song is just another 70s bang-anthem. It seems that the gentlemen of America are much better at roamin’ and ramblin’ than they are at romancin’. At least this one has a happy ending. Or, I guess, a happy beginning/middle/end. Cuz it’s about bangin’. Although, reading a bit too far into the lyrics, this sounds like it could be a kind of toxic, jealous relationship. “I get the shivers up and down my spine/The only time I’m happy’s when I know she’s mine. So hold me, hold me tight. Hold me tight, woman tonight.” 

Mr. America, you have nothing to be insecure about. You have long hair, any one of three very snazzy 70s suits, and presumably own this place called Dirt-Pit Manor where you take all the women you bang. I think you can see one of them standing at the window, if I’m not mistaken. She seems to be standing in such a way as to not have full-frontal nudity on the inside sleeve of the album.  

Overall, I think I like America. There were some oddball choices for a Greatest Hits album, but since the oldest song on this record was only four years old at the time of pressing, I don’t think their career had really been long enough to actually warrant a Greatest Hits collection yet. It would be like Lorde doing one. Or Ed Sheeran, to use a more current example. Although, to my knowledge, Ed Sheeran started his career making music like this and then became a sad, ginger Irish cog in the American music factory. Oh, Ed. I think I stand alone in having an improved opinion of you after your Game of Thrones appearance. Because now you’ve been a part of something I enjoy, instead of just a bland, flabby pop song that plays on the radio literally everywhere in the known universe at least once per day. It is in-fucking-escapable. It makes me want to punch holes in infants. I cannot wait until they start promoting another musical equivalent of plain oatmeal so I can get sick of something new for a change.

Anyway... 

Music: chill vibes for long drives/10

Media: Dang it, Mom/10