[Conf Call] Grad School is a Killer, Comfort Anime (Patreon)

Hey, all, Misty here!

Grad school this semester is an even bigger drain on my time (and mental state) than I expected. I'm still cooking on stories, but I have nothing completed to share this month. For that reason, I'm pausing for July.

It's funny, grad school. I expected to be able to handle this since I already did my MFA, but the challenge level is different. Even if my MFA felt like more work, it was already somethign I was good at. Data Analytics is a completely different beast that I thought I understood. It's like hunting a variant in Monster Hunter. After dozens of hunts on the normal one, you have a strategy, a plan, but it's woefully inadequate to handle the faster and smarter monster. It can be hella stressful.

At least this season's anime offerings are some great comfort food--in particular, Girls Band Cry and Jellyfish Doesn't Swim at Night. Both are anime originals about a group of young women forming bands and the drama around those projects. In that way, they're vaguely in the 'cute girls do cute things' camp, but they deal with pretty heavy themes. They're also (so very) gay.

To me, Girls Band Cry feels like it's about mourning and healing from grief. When the story kicks off, everyone in the main cast has lost something that was core to who they were and are in various states of (non)recovery. It's through coming together that they start to heal and find a way to accept that loss. You'll know what I mean once you get to episode eight. There's more after that, of course, but I don't want to spoil your expectations any more than that.

On the other hand, Jellyfish is about claiming your identity. 'Why do I do this?' is a central question for each of the four girls, and the narrative confronts that head-on in every episode. As you might imagine, it's a theme that really resonantes with me since I grapple with that question on a regular basis when it comes to writing.

Anyway, that's all for now. Until next time, be excellent to each other.

--Misty