Chaika, Thoughts

I want to write thoughts about media I consume but I don't want other people to see me writing thoughts about media I consume.

[chaikathink]

Read Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram. I thought the choose your own adventure bullshit at the end sucked a lot and the author couldn’t commit to either suicide or living so they gave up and asked the audience. I thought the elevator maintenance conversation was fine even if it was pretty heavy handed, I would have been happy if after that the narrator either died or escaped but instead we got just a load of crap for the rest of the book.

The way this book is written kind of pissed me off, a ton of words that meant nothing trying to describe this zone which could have been pretty horrifying but ultimately just meant nothing. The brief glimpses of gore made me react but I just couldn’t really care about the narrator or the halls, I liked Pashmina but the ultimate takeaway I got was “wow, isn’t she selfish for wanting to die because she has super cancer? Let’s kill her in a horrific manner right when the narrator has stopped caring about her and she’s nothing but a burden”

Vicken runs into her and knocks her off a ledge and breaks her leg by accident right? Did I imagine that? Pashmina does not care at all she’s just like it’s no biggie I have a lot of pain medication.

This book was kind of awful?

[chaikathink]

Time for more funny Monica yay

[ak794itomugi]

[chaikathink]

Don't Call It Mystery

Currently Starting Volume 5, Note I wanted to write down:

Several times so far in the series the idea has been brought up that there might be/there should be/there could be other species other than humans to communicate and work with. In Volume 1/2 I believe Totonou-kun brings it up while talking to the woman at the Police Department that it would be nice if there was a third opinion other than masculine / feminine (but not non-binary/asexual is noted). In Volume 3/4 I'm pretty sure it is mentioned to Shioji or Asaharu but I forget the context. In Volume 5 we get it again, now from a new perspective, Totonou's professor, screenshot below:

At this point I don't know what Totonou-kun's "line of work" is, or if this is a theme that Yumi Tamura-sensei is just fond of? I don't know what the point of this note is, or if it will ever come up again, but it has happened 3 times so far. I wonder if this theme is brought up in 7Seeds since that's scifi I think? I will continue with Don't Call It Mystery until I'm caught up, then I'll go back and finish Basara, then I'll check out 7Seeds but that's a lot and it may not happen any time soon.

[chaikathink]

Volume 7: the professor brings up this 'separate species' again, but this time in relation to a child's view of parents.

[chaikathink]

Don't Call It Mystery

Currently Starting Volume 5, Note I wanted to write down:

Several times so far in the series the idea has been brought up that there might be/there should be/there could be other species other than humans to communicate and work with. In Volume 1/2 I believe Totonou-kun brings it up while talking to the woman at the Police Department that it would be nice if there was a third opinion other than masculine / feminine (but not non-binary/asexual is noted). In Volume 3/4 I'm pretty sure it is mentioned to Shioji or Asaharu but I forget the context. In Volume 5 we get it again, now from a new perspective, Totonou's professor, screenshot below:

At this point I don't know what Totonou-kun's "line of work" is, or if this is a theme that Yumi Tamura-sensei is just fond of? I don't know what the point of this note is, or if it will ever come up again, but it has happened 3 times so far. I wonder if this theme is brought up in 7Seeds since that's scifi I think? I will continue with Don't Call It Mystery until I'm caught up, then I'll go back and finish Basara, then I'll check out 7Seeds but that's a lot and it may not happen any time soon.

[chaikathink]

Hana to Rakurai Chapter 7

I wanted to make note of some interesting paneling that caught my eye. Or if not paneling, just the general use of using the comic format for this particular manga. For context, the text during these two pages is happening elsewhere while the images in the panels are occuring. The characters speaking are off screen and the action on screen is a separate character passing out in the snow. I don't think this is particularly novel of an idea, and this occurs all the time in film/anime/whatever but the emotional weight of this scene spoke to me and I thought it was very well done.

For reference: Hana to Rakurai by Kana Watanabe Chapter 7 pages 20 and 22.

[chaikathink]

Often thinking about Tama-chan in Slow Start being the same Tama-chan from Magi-Cu/Bottle Fairies

[chaikathink]

SEQUEL awake

Just finished another 100% playthrough of sequel awake, what a good game. Probably gonna jump right into colony even though I should be finishing Evenicle first. I want to see my friends from Vaeltria again the little bit in the post game isn't enough. Though I was very happy to have my wife Uula and my wife Pirila fighting over stag and rhinocerous beetles for one short scene.

Hakika so goated I gotta get through everything instead of playing blight and awake, leaving it on the backburner for years, then replaying blight and awake.

[chaikathink]

Ark of Artemis

Played through Ark of Artemis, an rpg maker eroge created by Kujirabo. This is a sequel to LAST EMBRYO -EITHER OF BRAVE TO STORY- which is also an rpg maker eroge by Kujirabo. Ark of Artemis stars Claudia, a side character from the first game, as she and her guild travel to a different part of the world to help fight the Edenfolk who want to kill all of the Michelinfolk. It is standard story telling, I enjoyed the plot of the first game well enough. This game was much shorter with a lot less interesting moments. The dungeons are all bad, the combat is throwaway, the enemies are even less varied than before. But who cares, Claudia is super cute and the h scenes are better than the first game. The art got a bit of an upgrade but I think the character sprites in Last Embryo were charming.

I tried to beat the game as a virgin, or I at least wanted to give the sex potion to Satyr so I could lose my virginity to her, but I did the dungeons out of order so I didn't get the potion before triggering the final cutscene. I didnt even get the virgin achievement for some reason but I definitely never got penetrated so idk. Maybe I masturbated too much. I'll run through the game again on a corrupted run and see what happens, at least trying to collect as many H scenes as I can.

I will play Last of Fantasma when it comes out. I like this series, it isn't deep in terms of dungeons or combat, but the girls are cute and the world is interesting enough. I hope Last of Fantasma goes back to Sill though or at least is part of the main story again.

[chaikathink]

Minky Momo 47-52

Idk what is happening but after having such a great experience with the first 46 episodes Kajira coming out of nowhere and being obnoxious, louder than everyone else, and not fitting the vibe at all is so strange. Takes me out of it every time he shows up. It's like that simpsons image with Graggle Simpson, you are not supposed to be here! You are not part of the crew!

Episode 51 was good.

[chaikathink]

Minky Momo 46 Thoughts

It was that episode. I knew it was coming so I kind of had a rough idea of what to expect, they even show the incident happening in the preview during ep 45, but damn.

I tried explaining everything to my girlfriend afterwards and I just started thinking that was shocking to me in the now as an adult, but imagine being some kid watching that silly Momo on TV and then bam she fucking dies and then your house gets hit by an earthquake. That would be terrifying.

I only know the general idea of the why, saying the director changed episode 46 to have Momo be hit by a toy truck to get back at the toy company pulling out of supporting Momo merch but what does that really mean. What was it going to be like wthout those changes? In episode 44 they announce that Mama and Papa are going to have a baby, which leads very nicely to the reincarnation, but was that going to happen without the rest? I do not know maybe I'll research.

It was still a nice episode and the Minky Momorial photo is iconic, I am excited to watch more, even if the next two eps are recaps. Episodes 43-46 were a really good run.

The show is good and Momo is very charming and I believe it is worth watching even knowing about episode 46 tragedy.

[chaikathink]

I’ve been watching a lot of Minky Momo. She is a very funny child. Watching on Crunchyroll like a loser so I don’t have good screencaps.

[chaikathink]

I’ve been playing too much final fantasy xiv so I haven’t been watching as much anime or reading as much manga.

But I finished Dawntrail MSQ the first week of launch that was very fun I enjoyed taking the whole week off to explore Tural.

Was the MSQ good? Absolutely not it was really bad. Wuk Lamat was cool I guess she did everything right she is a good leader and voice of the people she was just really annoying and I did not like her. Voice acting in the expansion was something else. And by something else I mean bad. Lots of weird scenes that were voice and a lot of scenes that should have been voiced that weren’t. I wanted to hang out with two of my favs Erenville and Krile and Krile got nothing and Erenville got a little but not enough. All of Krile’s moments were overshadowed immediately by Wuk or baby Gulool Ja.

The dungeons and encounter design in DT are fantastic and I hope they keep up this style. I’ve been playing AST as my main this expac and it’s been very fun. But I’m really a DoL/DoH main in truth.

I had more MSQ thoughts back when it was closer to when I finished it but at this point all I have left is a sour taste in my mouth. I hope this sets up something cool in the future, we’ll have to see with the patches coming up. I hated stormblood while playing it but ShB and EW gave me new appreciation for what SB set up, I hope something down the line can do the same for DT.

[chaikathink]

Hiyori Otsu - various manga

Mizuiro Cinema :

This was very cute and fluffy, my first experience with Hiyori Otsu's work, the childlike naivety of Tae matched well with the professional adultlike Yui, who is clearly still a child within despite the appearances she puts on. A happy ending story that tries to pull on your heart strings for like half a chapter before settling down and saying no don't worry everything will be okay. Great art, which is a consistent theme with Hiyori Otsu.

Orange and Yellow :

This had several short stories within it, the title story lasted about 3 chapters and was cute enough. There was an emphasis on hair in the art, and I think Hiyori Otsu uses that to tell her characters apart because its a lot of very similar looking faces. But the hair was light and drawn very wispy almost, it had good volume. Those are kind of contradictory statements but I think it makes sense if you look at the cover art. However, among the following short stories, Katakoi Hime stood out as above and beyond the rest. While only one chapter, it develops two really interesting girls and their relationship while one suffers from an adolescent heartbreak. They don't end up together as a couple or anything, maybe in the future, but the main girl learning about Mizuno is a story worth reading.

Clover :

Clover. This is the one I am most conflicted about I think, or the reason I wanted to write out my feelings. This is a story about 4 sisters and each of their romantic experiences. At least 3 of these sisters are gay.

Story 1, the youngest sister, is a cute story about breaking free of following stupid rules and the cute girl who convinces her to do it. I liked it. The scene of the gyaru type girl laying on the floor mirroring them both laying on the train luggage rack was masterful and a lot of fun.

Story 2, the second youngest, is a story that subverts Class S traditions of "all girls go out with other girls while looking for a good man." A very-definitely-not-lesbian asks out the Tachibana sister of this chapter as "just pretend" and eventually the sister falls in love with her, realizing how gay she is. It's a great chapter and the extra chapter follows this couple in the future until they are married.

Story 3, the second oldest sister, I liked because it wasn't a happy ending. It wasn't sad but the girl the Tachibana sister of the chapter liked already liked another girl. A story of overcoming a first love. Cute and good.

Story 4: This sister is not gay. Maybe? It's up for interpretation. She's got a terrible personality, takes advantage of everyone around her, and is extremely pretty. The point of voice from the episode is not hers, but rather a girl who is in love with her, and those feelings are not returned. I believe the sister knows that this girl likes her and chooses to just take advantage of that fact for now. Chapter 1 reveals that this sister is living on her own in the future, not married and not with a man, so there's hope. I enjoyed seeing her be awful to those around her, but I might have been expecting more girl's love where there wasn't any. But maybe, in the end, the pining for an obnoxious straight girl who takes advantage of both men and women, this too is yuri.

[chaikathink]

Yuri Elf to Norowareta Hime

The Lesbian Elf and a Cursed Princess by Yuu Araoshi. Do not worry, it’s not just the elf, the Princess is also very actively lesbian. This was not good. I am much appreciative to snekkimies for the translation, but it was just a lot of the same sex scene in different locations. The story was there? But not really important. It was porn after all idk what I was expecting.

I thought the following line was funny:

“I love you…” she whimpered quietly, like a bug.

So now the most I will remember about this book is the bug-like whimpering.

[chaikathink]

Arifureta Volume 13

The final volume! I really tore through this series and I liked it! I'm on that isekai light novel grind. I can read isekai LN just fine, but I can't stand watching them. Maybe being able to read through the bullshit is easier than having to sit down for 23 minutes an episode and deal with the girls squirming all over a guy or dense MC bullshit. Right before this I finished Mushoku Tensei and I liked it but neither that nor this have dense spineless MC, Rudy knows what he wants, most of the time, and Hajime is very enjoyable. Him and Yue get together volume 1 and there's no bullshit that's the pairing and it's a really strong pairing. That pairing does turn into like a lot more than a pair but oh well. Which leads me to my thoughts:

The harem got way too crazy at the end, I would not mind the main 4 girls (and maybe Shizuku she's cool) but I don't think Aiko-chan-sensei and Liliana were needed.

Ehitruje was like if A Realm Reborn Lahabrea was the final boss and that was it. He was annoying and pretty evil, but I also think our chuuni lover author was playing Shadowbringers while writing the finale.

Hajime is very swag and cool and can do anything! So awesome. It was a lot of asspull but not really, Hajime really worked to do all the bullshit he does, and it is impressive. It feels earned, I liked that, even if he's OP.

I'm glad Endou-kun got some spotlight. Ever since one bonus story described him and Hajime playing ping pong together I wanted them to be friends. It was fun for vampire Hajime to think Endou's blood smelled the most delicious and I think Endou should have joined the harem. Actually, no harem just Hajime x Endou.

I wish Kaori didn't join the harem off screen. We got more discussion of Aiko and Hajime having sex than Kaori and Hajime doing anything romantic. A big shame I like Kaori.

I really liked this series. I think I will watch the OVA with the Liberators and Hajime's gang. I hope the after story gets published I wanted more interactions with the gang in our world, especially meeting Hajime's parents. No breaks I was reading this every day from start to finish. I don't know what I'll read next but it will probably be more junk food. I'll try to pick a finished series. Maybe I'll finish Lazy Dungeon Master.

[chaikathink]

Arifureta Zero Volume 6

The finale for Miledi and the Liberators. It's unfair, it's awful, the world ends. We knew this would happen but it's still a shock. Reading these alternating with the main series has certainly been the way to go, each volume ties in with something either mentioned in the previous or following main series. The cast of characters were all charming, Lyu felt the least developed and while her forestization move was cool and she really is key to the party being the buffs, she felt underutilized and in the end Sharm was the one who defended the forest in her absence. Laus was a very tragic character but still entertaining.

I'm glad Naiz ended up with the little girl Yunfa even if Susha couldn't make it. I think they ended up being the ancestors of the guy in the main series who comes in to take over for the pope? Simon Levellair? Maybe? Which makes sense because he showed up one volume and was saying like "my family says follow your heart" or some shit and seemed real important but hasn't done much but be a good guy.

I liked the vampire king he was funny and honestly all the side characters were good even if there were way too many. Some stand outs were Sui, Alfard (the vampire), Badd, and the demon lord.

Oscar kind of faded into the background for this volume, he did a lot of synthesizing, but it really was Miledi's time to shine, as well as covering all the people dying and fighting.

Very cool set up and worldbuilding for Tortus and the main series, which is good because the main series really doesn't have that worldbuilding that I think it needs. Zero provides that for it.

Good series, read if you like the first 7 volumes of Arifureta and think you'll read all of the series eventually, really fleshes out the main series. I'll get started on the final volume of the main series right away.