#maybe have a longer last episode but i don't mind still have 6 in total

[snallavanta]

one thing's for sure, netflix has a sense of humour 💀

[spiraphobia]

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (2023)

From the mind of horror manga maestro Junji Ito comes a spine-tingling selection of some of his most bizarre, disturbing and terrifying tales.

Some thoughts ahead:

When this anime adaptation came out, I wasn't particularly excited knowing it was from the same studio that gave us Junji Ito Collection. And honestly, I'm disappointed that they didn't even bother to step up their game from the last series. Once again, they kick things off with The Strange Hikizuri Siblings as the first episode, just like they did with Souichi in JIC. If I were launching a horror series, I wouldn’t start with these kind of stories - they're practically a guarantee to give viewers the wrong impression of the entire anthology.

Really, I wish there had been more effort put into the details and the overall mood. You don't have to perfectly replicate Junji Ito's art style, but the dread and atmosphere should be there - those are some of his greatest strengths. And when I say that, maybe they could have used thicker lines, deeper shadows, or more unsettling sound design. The pacing could also be slowed down to build tension, letting the horror linger just a bit longer before revealing the unsettling visuals. Take The Bully, for instance. That manga panel had me seriously freaked out, but in the anime, it just feels flat and almost laughable—why does she look like a clown? Ugh.

Now we have viewers thinking, "What's so scary about these weird stories? There's nothing special about this author." I don't believe his works can't translate into anime - even Yami Shibai manages to nail the dread with nothing but cut-out pictures.

A few things did stick with me, though. They threw in a little revenge scene at the end of The Long Hair in the Attic, and I have to admit, that was brutal but oddly satisfying.

Also, The Mold wasn’t one of my favorite stories, but in the anime, it grossed me out enough to become my favorite episode in the whole series. This really confirms that the use of black and white suits Ito’s atmospheric works best.

Would I recommend it? If you're a die-hard Junji Ito fan, you might still want to check it out for the sake of seeing his stories in animated form. However, if you're new to his work or looking for something truly chilling, this adaptation might not deliver the atmosphere and dread that makes his manga so compelling. I'd give it a 6/10 - it's not a total miss, but it doesn't do justice to the source material. But hey, the opening and closing music are truly bangers though no lie.

[quackle]

If there’s a third season in the future, what do you hope to see?

Mine are:

1. More Mkulia. And they somehow find a way to gain control of their team.

2. Raj and Wayne got separated into two teams, I want to see how they deal with their own team and their thoughts of compete against each other.

3. Add two more characters and make it 3 teams with 6 person.

4. An unexpected villain arc for a originally good character and let them win. (I kinda want to see Damien got one after he knows Total Drama well enough.)

gonna ramble about my s3 wishes under cut. i'll probably come up with more as the days go by:

i just think we deserve a girl vs girl finale. too many missed opportunities for one. i need to see girl success.

i love julia, but let's give the main antagonist role to someone like, oh i dunno, the contestant who has sworn vengeance on this cast during both of her eliminations maybe? (i'm looking at you scary girl. keep your word! make it to the dang merge and make their lives hell! i've written an analysis for you and everything!)

i don't even care if nichelle wins anymore (and that's saying a lot coming from me), but can we PLEASE just PLEASE get her to the merge at least? i am so sick of people calling her niche-L like STOP 😭 can we TRY with her character instead of making it into a gag? just a little attempt?? for me??? (as you can see, i am staring hard at the only two contestants from this gen who didn't make the merge in both seasons)

give us a challenge at night. give us a swimming challenge. give us alt outfits. give us new settings. give us some creativity and fun. we deserve it. the island is cool but imagine if we were quite literally anywhere else. your ratings will peak.

i would also like to see the hockey bros on separate teams, especially after wayne has seemingly gotten over his fear of being on a different (hockey) team than raj. it would be interesting for their characters imo!

no central romance plot i BEG. put that big binder AWAY. not saying we can't have a romance plot (i think they can be cute and nice!), but let's just make sure it isn't the central plot or i'll lose my mind <3

make mkulia canon you cowards. i know i just said no central romance plot but like. we can still make this a subplot if we try hard enough.

i need more drama in total drama. like. let's make the drama STICK instead of having it rushed and solved in the span of an episode. long lasting tension leaves the audience gagged and wanting more. if we gotta make longer seasons then so be it! (oh how i miss the longer seasons...)

if y'all don't make emma and bowie talk next season like........... do not separate the besties like this! bring them back!

and speaking of my fav white girly—we need her to get some plot. i do not ever want to see her eliminated the way she was ever again. that was heartbreaking!

if we can't make a world tour/musical season happen again, first of all, BOOOOO THAT SUCKS, and second of all, can we at least squeeze in a musical episode? i gotta hear them sing, i'm sorry... my musical phase is never-ending i fear

you know that one intern? the one with the really good design? it would be soooooo cool if they made her a contestant to fill in a contestant quota or something. it would be sooooo cool 😇 don't you guys think it would be sooooo cool?

[jungwooswift]

She's perfect. She's just... Perfect. I had a plan to kiss her. I was actually gonna steal that move from Victorious when Robbie asked if he could tell Cat a secret and then tilted her chin and kissed her. But it didn't work out. We sat on the wrong couches and her roommates came home. She walked me to my car at 9 PM and I was gonna do it then, but then she MENTIONED THAT SHE WANTED TO KISS ME and it totally threw off my element-of-surprise plan.

So by now, I'm 0 for 2. But I managed to tell her that I haven't kissed anyone since high school (my deepest, darkest secret -- not even my best friend knows that) but she didn't laugh or tease me. She told me that this was my moment, and that I had to initiate it, that I had to kiss HER and make this MY baby gay moment and that I'd kick myself if I let her kiss me and didn't have the guts to do it myself. And she was completely right. But I was scared shitless. But she didn't care. She refused to leave my side until I did it. She said she wanted me to have my moment, and she'd wait til I was ready.

It took nearly 3 hours. We talked about nothing. I was so nervous, I was flailing. I was talking super fast about literal nonsense. She smiled the entire time. It was raining. We were freezing. She didn't care. I asked her why she was willing to do this, willing to stand in the rain just so I could have a good first kiss with a girl. She said it was because I was cute. I asked her again later and told her not to give me the same answer. She said it was because I was REALLY cute. Every dumb thing I said, she countered it with a compliment. Her smile was... So genuine and never wavered, not even for a second. She said she liked to see me flustered and disarmed, the opposite of how I usually carry myself. Even when it rained, she assured me she was having a great time. She never budged. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. Eventually she "bribed" me with the idea of going back inside, getting under a blanket, thawing and watching Bob's Burgers. I said I'd do it "in a minute" and she counted backwards from 60. But poorly. "59...58...10...6...4...3...2..."

I kissed her on 1.

It was a peck, a middle school kiss, a nervous, teenage "I really like you but I'm so scared" kiss and I was petrified but it was perfect. She laughed and wrapped her arm around me and walked me back inside. She got me a heating pad for my back. I took a picture of her for my Snapchat story. We watched my favorite episode of Bob's Burgers. She could see I was panicking (not because of her -- I genuinely enjoy being around her) and asked what she could do to help. It wasn't a pity offer. She actually gave a fuck.

Suddenly, it's 1:30 AM and I have to go home. She offers to walk me to my car but I tell her no. Part of me thinks I've already blown it by being such an inexperienced INFANT gay. I don't want to drag her back to my car where I'd just held her hostage. She's still shivering and I feel terrible. She put herself through serious physical pain and discomfort to put me at ease and make sure my first kiss with a girl was special and my own unique moment. Besides, it's a short walk and I had already subjected her to 3 hours of frozen hell. I go to open the door, then turned back to say good night and she grabbed me and she kissed me and this was not a teenage peck.

This was a real kiss. A movie kiss. A fan fiction kiss. If I thought I was petrified before... I knew nothing of true TERROR until this moment but it only lasted a second. Otherwise, it's all bliss. It's all her. My mind is blank but eventually comes back and realizes that this is IT. This is a moment I've been waiting for for MUCH longer than I've ever let on. But her hands are on me and she's actually kissing ME and she's beautiful and smart and I want so badly not to disappoint her. At some point I tried to be smooth and pull her closer by her hips, and maybe I did, but all I really remember is HER, and that this is 10,000 times better than any of the shit I imagined. She said something cute and I stumbled out the door, dazed, and said something stupid back. Then I sat in the parking lot, texting a friend with trembling fingers because there's no way something this magical happened to ME, right?

At 2 PM this afternoon, I showered and got changed because I wanted to see her, and didn't have the courage to ask her to hang out until after 4. I downright considered turning back in the middle of the drive. At best, I thought we'd watch YouTube videos (she watched Markiplier play Until Dawn with me and she laughed at my favorite joke) but what I got instead? I'm not used to this. Good things don't happen to me. Not like this. Not ever. But it did happen. It's surreal and foggy, like a good dream that's lingering in my head, like if I go back to sleep, I might be able to keep it going in vivid detail. But it's 3:30 AM and I'm typing this post.

I don't understand any of this. I got a late start. What comes after a third date and a great kiss? (It was great for me, anyway. I hope it was passable for her.) I don't know. Life isn't The L Word. I don't know what happens after you open Pandora's Box. But it's open, and I'm happy. I don't know what comes next, but I'm ready. I think back to 2014, a love-sick, heartbroken 19-year-old who was suffering through her first WLW crush and thinking that this pain was forever and that there was no other path for me besides unrequited love and sad songs I wrote after the whole world went to sleep. But it does get better. For my baby gays reading this, it does get better.

You're gonna figure it out. So will I. It's scary, and your heart rate is going to be dangerously high, and you're going to sweat through 2 out of 3 of your shirts, but keep going. It's going to be great. I can't tell you when or how, but it will be. I can't even tell what's next for ME. A Valentine? A girlfriend? A whole bunch of other terrifying firsts? I don't know, my loves. I really don't. I just know that sometimes a day starts out with mundane job training and ends with an amazing, amazing first kiss. (My heart flutters every time I think about it and it's only been 2 hours.) But this is the first step in a potentially beautiful journey, and you all deserve to take that first step, too. Twentygayteen is upon us, my friends. Be braver than your Noona, and get out there. This thing I'm feeling right now? You all deserve to feel it. And I can't wait to hear all about it when you do. That's all for now. Thank you all for still caring about me after all these years. You guys still give me strength, and I'll never stop being grateful.

감사합니다! 사랑해! 잘자~