Lith's Diary - January (Patreon)

Dear Diary,
The new year is here and all worn in and comfy. Glancing at my last diary, it sounds like such a long time ago. I actually got really sick this month, so that was gross. But on the bright side, it gave me the chance to catch up on a bunch of anime I've missed! I binged straight through two new shows from this year, and they were both... quite a trip.

One was Youjo Senki. It's... um... there's this little girl in "not Germany" with magic powers, and she signs up to join the army and fights the "not axis," and she's crazy and evil and literally having a fight with god, because she's actually the reincarnation of a pessimistic Japanese businessman, and... it's weird. It's very entertaining, but very weird, and kinda embarrassing to watch just because it's so ridiculous and the protagonist is basically a fascist archetype with magic powers. And also a little girl. In a way, I guess you could say it's very bold and original, but also it's kinda... not? Just a slight remix of a lot of classic anime tropes and ideas into a new configuration that's a little more uncomfortable and self-indulgent. It's a hard show to talk about!

The other show I watched was... uncomfortable for another reason. It's called Made In Abyss, and it is also about a little girl going into dangerous situations she really shouldn't be in, but instead of a warzone, she's like... descending into this massive abyss full of monsters and horrors, whole ecosystems of suffering that devour trained professionals daily, and she just kinda... expects to make it further than all of them? And like, going into it, you think "oh geez, this is gonna be one of those dumb things where the kid somehow just magically skirts past all danger, having a scare here and there or something." And... kinda? But not. It gets... intense. In a lot of ways. The show starts kinda slow, and the characters look kinda derpy, but the show itself grows steadily more fascinating the longer you watch, gradually drawing you in and cutting off your chance of escape bit by bit... kinda like the abyss itself. It's absolutely a strange show, but it's one I can definitely recommend. Besides how fascinating the story becomes, it's also gorgeous if you look at anything besides the characters.

Hmmm. I did watch some other animes too, but only partially. Spice and Wolf was actually both intriguing and a bit disappointing. I like really boring games about playing the trader or merchant, and when I heard this anime was literally just all about economics it piqued my interest. But as it turns out, it's not really about economics itself so much as like... the intrigue and minutiae involved in the life of a trader in medieval times? Trading information, handling different forms of currency, manipulating other traders and avoiding their scams in turn, dealing with tariffs and insurance and... It's pretty impressive how well they do making dry stuff like this fairly interesting, and it's refreshing to have a hero that's specifically not a fighter-- at one point he's literally incapacitated by a small wound on his arm, and my first thought was "oh come on, get up!" But I mean, if you've lived a life of complete non-violence, and suddenly you're put in this stressful situation, fight or flight, and take a significantly painful wound, it can put you down even with just the shock for a while. I'm just so used to the hero being ready to grin and bear it through practically anything that it took me by surprise. And I kinda like the anime, but I have to admit it's not what I expected.

The other one I watched was Little With Academia, which has been similarly both fun and kinda disappointing. I believe it's from the people that made Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Kill La Kill, both of which are exceptional shows, but for this one I guess... they were burnt out after how insane those two shows were and just wanted to make something more laid back and sweet? Or something? It's kind of an underwhelming "girl trying to learn magic, turns out she's the chosen one and must learn the meaning of friendship or something" story, and while a lot of the art is still beautiful, the characters don't tend to be as engaging and likeable, and without the same attitude behind it the art style feels less... "so intense it can't contain itself" and more just kinda... droopy? They always have kind of a loose, all over the place style, but without that same energy, it feels strange. It definitely feels like it's lacking something. It's still nice, still a solid anime, but it just can't hold a candle to its predecessors...

Well! That's four animes I watched in part or in whole this month, and... they were all kind of a mix of good and bad? Actually, not even bad, really, just... good and... off. Strange. Four cases of "it's good, but..." And that makes for a pretty strange experience! Maybe it's just that I was feeling crummy and didn't have as much fun with them as I might have if I were feeling better. But I think it's more just that I had a little bad luck in my choices... Still, I'm glad to have watched them, and, for that matter, I do intend to watch more of... well, all of them. They all either have more seasons coming (hopefully) or more episodes I haven't gotten to yet, and I'd say they're all worth seeing through to the end. If you're looking for something new to watch, any of them could be worth a go, though I think I'd recommend Made In Abyss first. It can be a little hard to watch at times, but I'd say it was the most valuable experience out of the lot.

And you know what? I didn't even get to the games I've been playing this month. I really am just an incredible nerd, aren't I? Talk so much about one nerdy thing, I don't have time for the other nerdy thing, or who knows what other nerdy things I might ramble about after that. I'll have to talk about Monster Hunter next time. It's been a long time since I played, but it's been pretty great jumping into the new one.

In any case, it does seem odd that all the anime I watched had something... off about them, something that might stop me from really recommending them to people. But they were still good. I guess in a way, it's good that there are shows like that? You have to experiment and push in new directions, do things that might not work, to really improve and discover new possibilities. It might not turn out as well as you hope, but it can open up new ideas that make for a better, richer experience in the long run. No fun playing it safe and rehashing the stuff we already know we enjoy forever, right? It's important to remember that even when things don't turn out perfect, any flaw is just a chance to learn and improve.

You could say we've been learning a lot together, I guess. Through these doors in the void, I mean. Taking chances, trying to improve, and learning a lot about... ourselves. Yeah... that's one way to look at it. Keep a positive mindset, right, Diary? I hope you can do that too. Thank you for your help in all this, in... dealing with my parents, and keeping things going, helping Lithier guide us through. Even if things don't go how we want, we'll learn from our mistakes and do better next time. We'll make these doors give us what we want. You and me, together, we'll make it happen.

Thank you for hanging on with me through all this. For being there for me.
-Lith