media literacy is all about finding a balance between critical thinking and surface level enjoyment. too much surface level enjoyment and u become a chud excusing horrible things. too much critical thinking and ull be grasping at straws and will never enjoy any piece of art for the rest of ur life

I listen to my extremely long backlog of anime radio shows on my commute in the morning. Today’s listening is the final episode for My Hero Academia final season and I got to work nearish the end where Yamashita has been reduced to tears and it feels bad to turn it off right here 😭😭

86: Eighty-Six Volume 13 Review 86: Eighty-Six enters its final arc with the next volume, but first we must set the stage for what's to come.

86: Eighty-Six Volume 13 Review

86: Eighty-Six enters its final arc with the next volume, but first we must set the stage for what's to come.

animeuknews.net

Went to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Was great, particularly for giving us Punisher as the character he usually is (that Disney + special was dreadful, I’m sorry). Loved the story arc for Peter and felt it did a good job working through his mental state. Was fun.

Yoasobi is on Connect week / regular broadcast break, so I figured this is a perfect time to get back on top of my dramas / podcasts / etc. But now they’re rebroadcasting 女神の教室 which I’ve never seen before but has Yuki Yamada and Miyano in the cast, so uh, goodbye that spare time I gained?

Almost locked myself out of my phone this morning because I was convinced my passcode was one of two options and it was neither (but very similar to so the muscle memory was working against me) In the end partner managed to help me figure out what it actually was. It has been the same for years too🤦‍♀️

I don’t remember the Strongest Rearguard LN being anywhere near as horny as this anime is. I guess maybe it was less compressed in the book so you didn’t notice or…?

Shiny bunnnnny!

Yomichan finally stopped working so I had to find all my dictionary files to finally set up Yomitan. It’s not difficult but it’s not what I wanna be doing on a lazy Sunday either

There are a lot of really great shows this season! For AUKN I talk you through Love Unseen Beneath the Clear Night Sky, Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! S2, Magilumiere S2 and Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life :)

Anime UK News@animeuknews.net · 5d ago

Summer Season 2026 – First Impressions

I love Anzai, but as Hinase? Hmm. A lot more optimistic generally now we’ve learned more about the staff tho, seems like it should be solid.

Anime News Network@animenewsnetwork.com · 4d ago

Chika Anzai stars in the anime Just Like Mona Lisa!

Reading log for July

Reading Log: July 2026

The summer busy period has officially started at work, so things have been busy. But I feel I have been quite proactive in getting stuff out of the backlog, so when it comes to books, I am in relat…

curiositi.es

LRP: Also visual novels in general can be a great language learning tool, I’ve been playing through Uta no Prince-sama in Japanese and learnt a lot while greatly enjoying the game myself. So Y’know, lots of benefits

New blog post! You Should Play Otome Games - in which I talk a bit about localized otome games, unlocalized otome games, demographic stigmas and many things I've noticed being in this space as long as I have. blog.starlost.cc/2026/07/you-...

You Should Play Otome Games

Otome games are weird.        Now, this isn't because they're strange in a conceptual sense, or even in execution. They're weird because t...

blog.starlost.cc

The closest we’ll come to getting more of the authors books in English? (I think I bought the novel somewhere…)

Anime News Network@animenewsnetwork.com · 5d ago

Shueisha Games and developer iMel will release a video game adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa's Seasons of Books and Keys novel for Switch and Steam this winter.

A pervasive myth says the Japanese language lacks swear words. But beyond mere rudeness lies a level of words called kotobagari: words too taboo for publication or broadcast, most of them tied to the marginalized of Japanese society.

Kotobagari: The Banned Words of the Japanese Language - Unseen Japan

It's often said that there are no swear words in Japanese. But while profanities may be rare, taboos - and banned words - abound.

unseen-japan.com

I ordered up a bunch of Tokyo Alien’s that I decided to bundle with my Mrs Green Apple BD. The intention was to try and save some money by not packing these in with the big monthly order, but it was still £36 to ship 12 books and the BD so I’m not sure I’ve saved anything Maybe if it misses customs🥲

I feel like we’ve ended up with some dissonance between the music video and lyrics for Brand New. The MV leans into the film it’s tied to, but besides a few deliberate choices here and there the song itself is very traditionally Motoki in its messaging. Bet they had fun filming tho!

Mrs. GREEN APPLE「Brand New」Official Music Video

YouTube video by Mrs. GREEN APPLE

youtu.be

The piles of books that I had been steadily reading through this month felt under threat and called for backup, so now the backlog remains as looming as it was before. But I am also happy about book mail so…

うさぎさんの夏休み⛱️ チモシーアイスキャンデーたべよ〜

It took me a bit to figure out how to approach writing about this and if I even wanted to. It’s largely a ramble, but it let me get my feelings out there and I guess that’s what my blog is for

Keigo Higashino: A Mystery Fan’s Favourite Author

I’m not sure a lot of people necessarily know this about me, but I am a huge fan of mystery stories. Ever since I was a small child watching Scooby-Doo, really. I loved Sherlock Holmes and Th…

curiositi.es

I really like the episodic nature of Divine Incursions, but I was also happy to see the author improve on some of the issues I’d had with volume 1. Worth revisiting!

Anime UK News@animeuknews.net · last wk.

Divine Incursions Volume 2 Review Set twenty years before the first book, Volume 2 introduces us to a conman turned investigator as he finds himself on the Divine Incursions Task Force and coming face-to-face with all kinds of gods.

Good but sad book mail after yesterday’s news. I will do my upmost to savour Guilt.

I am entirely done for the day after not enough sleep and that appointment. It was fine! But it’s a service being ran out of a GP, so you have reception for registered patients and then you have people like me there for this service who have to sign in somewhere else with 0 signage saying such. And

Tomorrow I have to be up well before 8 since I got booked in for a 8:30 medical appointment at a clinic I have never been to before and that apparently doesn’t even open until half 8. None of this sounds like it’s going to be anything other than lack of sleep and anxiety

Damn I was not expecting to see that news about Higashino, he was still so young. :(

Author Keigo Higashino passed away at 68 from cancer last week. Most people know him in the West as the author of "The Devotion of Suspect X" and "Salvation of a Saint" but he wrote SO many books. He's one of the most prolific mystery authors in Japan. This is a huge shock. He will be missed.

日経電子版@nikkei.com · last wk.

作家の東野圭吾さん死去、68歳　「ガリレオ」「容疑者xの献身」 www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQO...

Late night musing on Sagan Sagan’s latest work

Backlog Conquest: Handkerchief Motte, Time Machine Matte, Last Scene Damatte,

I’m actually an existing fan of Sagan Sagan’s work, but when I first came across Handkerchief Motte, Time Machine Matte, Last Scene Damatte, (ハンケチーフ持って、タイムマシーン待って、ラストシーン黙って、), I never g…

curiositi.es

アルカナシャドウ様

Yoasobi was doing a segment on mechanical pencils and the Kuru Toga Dive that Taku took to caught my eye, but that sure doesn’t seem that readily available :<