HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

This was certainly an interesting year for me, I got really into new media and experimenting with art. I've been getting more recognition on my YouTube and I couldn't be happier!! This was also an interesting year for art and media. While we've definitely struggled with the AI apocalypse and the sickly repetitive craft that is contemporary mainstream media, we've gotten quite a few gems. This post is made to catalog my favourite pieces of media throughout this year, maybe we'll have some in common! ;)

TV

Show of the year: House

While I only started watching House recently, I still think it deserves this place on my list (also because I don't watch too many shows). From the medical talk, to House's characterisation, to our lord and savior Robert Sean Leonard being featured in the main cast, House is a complex and hilarious show that I'll continue to watch in the new year.

Anime of the year: Dungeon Meshi

My older sister is super into Dungeon Meshi and got me and my older brother to watch it and it has to be one of my favourite animes ever. The world-building is intricate, fantastical, and rich as well as the characters' stories and personalities. Ryoko writes characters in a way I haven't really experienced before and I'm more than ecstatic for season 2. 

Movies

Live Action Movie of the Year: All About Lily Chou-Chou

You've likely heard about or seen edits of this movie somewhere on the internet, and its wide reach is highly deserved. All About Lily Chou-Chou is a brutally honest and beautifully produced look into teen crime, angst, and passion. It connects to me most because I (along with many others) found solace within music during my darkest moments. It shows us the ways that we distance ourselves from others as well as what connects us in the end. Music, rage, sex, death. While it's a long, draining, depressing film, I highly recommend it if you think you're well enough to handle it's themes.

Animated Movie of the Year: Look Back

Look Back is a passionate and chaotic look into why we make art and how us artists perceive the world around us. I've always felt that artists are different from other people in some indescribable way and this film has solidified my belief in this theory of mine. Our main character is a flawed yet loving portrayal of an artist that I find to be quite relatable. I'd also like to say with absolutely no hyperbole that after I watched this I needed to wash my whole face because I cried so hard and so messily.

Short Film of the Year: Affairs of the Art

I've mentioned this short film here on my blog before, I'm sure, but I'd like to bring attention to it again as its one of my favourites of all time. It's yet another look into why we make art and how it affects us, but it also inspects other kinds of obsessions (and in my opinion, autism and special interests). Its bizarre, grotesque, perverted, and absurd, but it holds a special place in my heart because of the honesty and love put into it.

Honorable Mentions:

Submarine (Live Action Movie)

Perturbing, chaotic, and undeniably cosy.

Longlegs (Live Action Movie)

Wynoriffic, Haunting, Exhilarating

Music:

Album of the Year: Catskills - Kitty Craft

I've been a Kitty Craft fan for a while now (I even got some merch for Christmas) and I'm being completely honest when I say that I've listened to this album nonstop through the year. It's a whimsically mixed 'n' matched sound collage of vintage samples and quaint vocals, like a homespun quilt converted to sound. It also features what I'd gladly dub as some of her best songs like 'Push Me Down', 'Top of the Key', and her best song (imo) 'How Long Can This Go On?' Overall, it's a magnificently earnest and tender album that I HIGHLY recommend.

Song of the Year: Négy Gengszter - Cotton Club Singers

I first heard this song in the film 'Macskafogo/Cat City' and while I very much disliked the film, this song stuck with me. It's a wonderfully jazzy and cheeky song sung entirely in the beautifully complex language of Hungarian. I can't even begin to explain how catchy this song is to me, it's really something you have to listen to yourself into order to understand. Both the live and studio versions are wonderfully performed (despite my preference for the live version ;)).

Artist of the Year: Kahimi Karie

If you like cutesy Japanese music then you've likely heard a few songs by Kahimi Karie. But, the main reason I've dubbed her my artist of the year is because of her unique and unforgettable voice, brand, and persona. She sings about whatever she finds interesting or enjoyable, ranging from fashion, flowers, and sweets, to Harmony Korine, cryogenics, and A Clockwork Orange. She's in a whole other league of her own that other so-called 'weird girl' musicians could only hope to replicate. She's not afraid to be surreal and absurd in her art and that's why I love her so dearly.

Books

Book of the Year: Becoming Kirrali Lewis - Jane Harrison

While I had to read this book for school, it didn't spoil my enjoyment of it. We follow our main character Kirrali as she begins her studies as a law student while dealing with all the inherent and horrific racism within Australia's societal system towards First Nations Australians. The book deals a lot with themes of culture, prejudice, and internalized racism. Quite a few people found Kirrali to be infuriating and snobby due to her internalized racism, but I found it to be an interesting commentary as a lot of people of colour tend to struggle with similar feelings. While I'm not a person of colour, and while I'm not a First Nations Australian, I still found the book to be a meaningful and honest work despite its flaws.

Manga of the Year: Kafka - Nishioka Kyodai

This is not an original work, rather an illustrated version of various Kafka stories, I still think it deserves its place on my list. Nishioka Kyodai's style of art fits perfectly with the aura that Kafka's stories radiate. The beautifully crafted scenes and intricately composed panels are nothing short of ethereal. As the Manga nears its end, the art entropies into a surreal display of patterns and stars while still maintaining its signature flair.

Comic of the Year: Randal's Friends - Captain Howdie

I'm still making my way through the Ranfren series but despite this I'm greatly impressed with it. It's very likely you've seen Ranfren somewhere of the internet and not given it a second thought, but I decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did. It's a surreal and scratchy series of shorts, slowly morphing into a disorienting yet entertaining tale. The style and 'aesthetic' of the comic is entirely unique as well as it's dialogue, writing, and humour (which can be quite gross at times). 

Thank you for reading this long, LONG post... I appreciate you fuelling my autism.

Happy New Years to you all!!