170/1,000 medias finished! Blog #1
Happy July 22! Today I wasn’t able to complete too much media since I’m focusing in on writing my own book (as I will be for the majority of the summer), but here’s what I managed to do today:
- The Haunting of Hill House (the book: REVIEW)
The Danger of “Belonging”: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, a REVIEW
I was shocked by how much I enjoyed this book at the beginning, but not at the end. If you’re not a horror nut, you won’t enjoy this book, no matter the fact that it’s well-written or meaningful. The ending became hard to follow and I lost interest in it a lot, but if you’re looking for a quick, easy horror read, I totally recommend this!
The beginning has a nice balance of comedy and uncanny horror, using the descriptions of the house to make the reader uncomfortable at the same time as making them giggle, only for the end to feel like the book was laughing at the reader all along.
The ending was both shocking, but also not at the same time. I had to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how the ending was written in such a uniquely dark way. It was certainly a very humane story about a haunted house, and leaves you the question of whether or not you should be scared of the house, or if you should actually pity it throughout the novel.
Overall, I would say it’s not too scary, but is very good at making the reader feel uncomfortable, especially at the end. It’s very short, and also tons of fun if you’re looking for something analytical to question and explore for a day, then move on the next day. I would recommend this highly for horror nuts who like something a bit more on the psychological horror side or horror with a bit of comedy. Either way, the ending is sure to shock you.
Yes, They’re Right About the JJK Ending: A Commentary On Peak Literature Under Pressure!
Note: No Spoilers, just discussing the manga and (albeit briefly) the character Satoru Gojo
Unfortunately, I’ve even found myself trying so hard to keep focus on the JJK manga. It certainly loses its unique charm by the end of the book, and I feel incredibly bad having read Gege Akutami’s letter before embarking on deciding to finish the manga.
I feel that Jujutsu Kaisen has done so much right. It set up these beautiful characters and a magnificent, iconic art style. It also had a very unique plotline with very good messages for older and younger anime fans. There’s no wonder it became popular so quickly.
However, as I read it, I do have the issue that honestly… everything becomes forgettable after the Culling Arc. There were random conveniences brought up that turned the story one way or another as some sort of deus ex machina for either the “heroes” or the “villains”, info-dumping randomly during the final battle that ended up being in the favor of the “heroes”, and my biggest issue: it plainly stated the media’s intentions.
Although there’s a lot that is beautiful about media, the #1 most beautiful factor is its ability to impact and reach out to an audience through art. But by the end, character details were just stated plainly. The biggest representative of this pet peeve I had was no other than the strongest himself: Satoru Gojo. His character was beautifully introduced, easily gaining a quick fan-following. These minor quotes and the presentation of his backstory only added to such a complex character, and made me intrigued to read more. But by the end, we have all that made his character beautiful and meaningful just plainly stated on paper, as if it suddenly turned on the audience without showing any more intent on targeting readers with incredibly media literacy. True, some facts need to be plainly stated, but it just doesn’t make sense for a character like Gojo to suddenly have everything laid out before the reader, with all his secrets and “walls” lowered so that everyone can discover the man underneath in just a few words, very simply put. It took away from the beauty for me.
However, don’t be deterred! Jujutsu Kaisen is still (by far) one of the best mangas I have read, and I believe it’s an essential read, and is nothing the author should beat himself up about. The characters are complex and meaningful and human in ways so many shows fall to show nowadays. And the art and plot is so unique and makes the work incredibly emotional. Even to the end, the manga did remain a very intelligent piece of fiction. I would still recommend this manga to any people looking for the next thing to read.
The Comfortable Social Commentary, an Anime Recommendation: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K
As someone who can’t handle media that doesn’t take itself seriously, I shockingly fell in love with this show. I was laughing at every joke, no matter how immature. And if you can deal with the immature comedy, there’s also a nice blend of mature comedy and social commentary in there.
It’s an intellectual media that has fun with itself, doesn’t take itself seriously, but also takes itself seriously enough for the audience to gain important life lessons throughout it, and even cause the audience to question social norms!
I’m only on episode 10, but this anime is something I’d highly recommend for slice of life enjoyers looking for their next easy watch, heavy with immature AND mature humor on top of social commentary and a cast of relatable (and utterly, 100% non-relatable) characters. On top of that, this show is totally quirky and its comedy is intelligent, capable of making audiences of almost any age laugh at its absurdity or its relatability.
Oh, and it’s also a good secret ad for coffee jelly, if you get what I mean.
Overall, the media I got through today included…
- Finished “The Haunting of Hill House” (the book by Shirley Jackson)
- Read the next The Egg Project (Webtoon) chapter
- Read up to chapter 267 of Jujutsu Kaisen Manga
- Watched up to episode 10 of Saiki K (Netflix)
- Watched episodes 13 + 14 of Banana Fish (anime, Prime Video)
- Rewatched episodes 8 - 10 of Spy x Family (Crunchyroll)
- Watched House (1977 - the Japanese horror film)
Currently reached 170/1,000! Please feel free to send me more recommendations and check out my page! I live off recommendations. I still need more to reach the 1,000 fandom goal! Thank you for reading!
