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Yes I know it's almost February. Still, for my first blog post I felt like going over some of the media I saw last year, and maybe talk about some stuff I saw this year.
A mostly messy review of everything I can remember seeing and thoroughly enjoying or at least hyperfixating on.
These aren't rankings of everything, just overall stuff. Everything is subjective, and you probably find some of these cringe. I don't blame you if you do.
Remember, this is things I SAW in 2022, not necessarily things that were made there.
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1. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022 Movie)
I was already looking forward to this one for a while. While I felt the first movie was just "alright" and could've been better (yet it also could have been a whole lot worse), I was still looking forward to seeing how they continued this iteration of Sonic.
And holy shit, this blew everything the first movie did out of the water.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 follows the titular character teaming up with
Tails to stop Eggman and Knuckles from getting their hands on the
Master Emerald, while also having to prove that he's a capable hero. Already, this is quite a detour from the first movie in terms of accuracy to the games, but fanservice I feel should be a tool to enhance a story and not just something to go "LOOK GUYS ITS THIS THING YOU LIKE :D". Thankfully it was the former.
It definitely still falls under some kids movie-isms (i.e. characters flossing and an incredibly pointless dance battle) I still found even the lamer moments fun. I remembered finding Movie Sonic to be pretty annoying at times so it was nice to see them exploring the themes of maturity as well as having community to fall back on and not having to face everything alone. It's not the most in-depth thing ever, but I liked it. I could gush about everything in this movie for ages, such as the Super Sonic battle at the end and Knuckles being an absolute goober, but I think I'll just leave it at "A pretty fun Sonic adventure for anyone to enjoy."
Wonder how they're going to do the third movie given who's supposed to be the spotlight character in that one...
An honorable (or I guess dishonorable? it's not really THAT bad though) mention goes to Sonic Prime. I wanted to like this one, the animation is super fluid when it's not trying to do sprite art...but unfortunately I don't like the writing in it. It's not for me but it's something I'm willing to pass the time with and I know a lot of people like it, so I'm willing to support it given it's on Netflix which...y'know. Not a good place for animated shows.
2. Avataro Sentai Donbrothers (2022 Show)
A semi-sequel to the sentai that came before it, I found myself really entertained by Donbrothers, the current season of Super Sentai (it's where Power Rangers gets its footage from, but trust me when I say both shows could not be any more different from each other)
This iteration is based off Momotaro, and mainly follows Haruka Kito as her life as a successful high school manga artist winds up turned around after being transformed into Oni Sister and subsequently being accused of plagiarism. The other donbrothers get their time to shine too, of course, led by the esteemed Momoi Taro. There's a whole lot of other stuff going on too, but that's the main thing.
Really the main issue is just the actual Sentai parts. This iteration has some very...quirky Sentai costumes resulting in two of the characters (Inu Brother and Kiji Brother) being animated in CGI. It's not very good CGI, and a lot of the fight scenes wind up lacking a lot of weight to them when those two aren't wearing other Sentai suits from the past (this was a sequel to the anniversary season.). I was able to get used to it after a while though, so if you have a tolerance for cheesy CGI this might not be an issue.
Overall it's a fun show, and sometimes all you need is something entertaining when you have to pump out a new season and a few movies every year. KingOhger looks promising, but it's gonna be sad to say goodbye to the Donbrothers in March.
3. How To Train Your Dragon (2010-Present Film Series)
Saw these movies and a bit of the show as a kid but could never remember much about them until I came across Audrie Greywind's channel where she tore apart The Nine Realms, which, from my knowledge, is basically a really bad "next generation" show which is currently ongoing. Out of curiosity, I decided to watch the first movie and instantly fell in love with the characters and had to see more of them.
And you do! There is a LOT of Dragons media out there.
In case you likely haven't seen the flicks, most of them follow Hiccup, who starts the series off as a young lad who's not built to be a warrior, so he's left as an apprentice to a blacksmith. He's pretty terrible at that too. One day he shoots down a rare Night Fury dragon but is unable to bring himself to kill it, instead befriending the dragon. That's just a loose plot of the first movie as things get pretty wild from there.
It's a very well made series, having its emotional moments but also having some fun characters, while a bit tropey, still manage to have some great dynamics! Not to mention the animation, which really shines during the flying scenes. I'm not great with words, but you can really feel the the absolute scale of the landscapes and just how high or how far they're going into the air, as well as the size of the dragons and how each of them feel unique. Again, I'm not good with words. I just think it's a great series.
I'd also like to highlight the great disability rep. Lots of characters require prosthetics, and it's never treated as a "Oh no, he'll never walk again!" kind of thing. That's just simply how they are, and everyone is okay with that. I dunno, as someone with disabled family members, some of whom are in a similar position, it felt nice seeing characters on the big screen that are like my extended family. I'm sure some folks out there found comfort in it too.
4. Madoka Magica (2011 Show)
Growing up as someone who made liking anime my personality I certainly knew all the overused jokes anime fans would make back in the day. "I love Emilia!" and "That little girl from Full Metal Alchemist really likes her dog I hope nothing bad happens to them!" and whatever Jojoke was around at the time. One of these common jokes I hear about is, of course, "Madoka looks a cutesy magical girl show but it's actually REAAAALY DAAARK, isn't that wacky?"
I actually kind of grew to resent Madoka for its "bad influence" on the magical girl genre as I felt everything that came afterwards was either trying to be dark and edgy like Madoka, a parody of the genre, or just PreCure. Where were all the lighthearted, silly, and fun magical girl shows from the 90s and 2000s?
That's a discussion for another day, and honestly I don't care enough. Madoka may have influenced that, but I decided to give it a chance anyways. After all, there were still darker magical girl shows before Madoka, so why would this show be to blame? 15 year old me was a little silly.
As for Madoka itself, damn, it's REALLY good. The series follows the titular Madoka as she is offered a wish by a magical creature known as Kyubey. In exchange for this wish, she must fight corrupted magical beings known as witches pretty much until she croaks. A mysterious magical girl, Homura, seeks to stop this from happening, while Madoka is exposed to the cruelty and suffering magical girls go through in order to get their wish. Will Madoka make a wish, or can Homura snap her out of it until it's too late? Watch the show to find out, silly.
First off, this show is very sad. The memes weren't lying, I found myself bawling my eyes out at times. Second off, this show is very weird. That's fine. The show's visuals always gives you something to look at with the extravagant yet creepy designs of the witches and the unique designs of the barriers/labyrinths they reside. There's a lot going on screen, but it never feels to the show's detriment. Instead, it emphasizes how unusual and uninviting the magical girl world actually is.
The characters themselves are great too. The main 5 characters all have something going for them and none of them are frustrating to watch. Homura especially is a very tragic character but I won't give away much about her. Highly recommend it if you're into surreal/dark shows. Rebellion and Magia Record are great watches too, though I've yet to finish the latter.
Moral of the story? Try new things. Madoka probably wouldn't have become my favorite anime otherwise.
5. Sleepless Domain (2015-Present Webcomic)
Here's a comic you can read for free online!
There's always a time in my life where I suddenly feel like reading a bunch of webcomics, and among one of my favorites was another magical girl comic, Sleepless Domain by Mary Cagle. The comic follows an isolated city that is regularly attacked by monsters. By day, the city is safe, but by night, the city activates a protective barrier. The only ones who can fight the monsters are girls who have the ability to transform into magical girls, and no, it's not by choice. The comic mainly follows Team Alchemical, an element-themed magical girl group who seem to struggle a bit with the whole "team" thing, but at heart are still good friends. On one night, however, something tragic happens that will change the life of protagonist Undine (she's the blue one) forever, and she's determined to find out why it happened.
The art for the first 2 chapters are by Oskar Vega, while Mary Cagle draws everything from chapter 3 onwards. I have to commend the artists for being able to draw water physics so well given Undine's power, I cannot draw water for the life of me so I've been using this comic as reference LOL. Given the premise of a city full of magical girls, there's obviously a lot of magical girls, but none of them feel too same-y personality or design-wise, and it never goes too overboard either. I really love this concept of what a world with magical girls might actually be like, from PTSD, to politics, to coping with death. A world where superheroes are known is a really fun idea to toy around with and has the potential to be a fun ride, and this comic delivers on that front. It does get dark sometimes, but it never becomes too ridiculously edgy.
If you've been craving more diversity in your mahou shoujos this is one I'd recommend. There are girls of many shapes, sizes, and sexualities throughout the comic (One of the main characters is a transgirl, for example.)
This comic is still going and just started its 21st chapter at the time I'm writing this.
6. Persona 4 (2008 Game/2011 Anime)
Anyways, about P4 itself. The plot follows Yu Narukami, who just moved in from the big city to the little town Inaba, where he spends the year. However, before he can get used to things, suddenly murders begin to occur all over town. Not helped by the fact Yu can also hop into a TV. It is here where teens with attitude hop inside TVs to stop murders before they happen, and find their true selves.
I watched the anime first, then played the game, and I was honestly shocked to see how well the anime adapted aspects of the game. Yu was a silent protag in the games, but here, he's a fellow that says everything with a straight face no matter how stupid it is, and it never fails to crack me up. Not to mention, he often exhibits Chad-like behavior unlike anything I've seen before! Throughout the one year Yu spends in Inaba you get to know and bond with everyone (via social links) and by the end Yu's made so many friends that it's sad when he inevitably has to go home.
And of course, given it's a murder mystery, it does get sad.
An emotional rollercoaster that, while not perfect, I found myself deeply getting invested in its world and characters. Atlus seemed to think so too given we spent a whopping 7 years with these characters in multiple canon spinoffs before finally moving onto P5.
7. Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014 game)
Counting this entry as just Puyo as a whole, but Tetris specifically was the one that got me into this mess. Of all the hyperfixations I've had, I never expected this game to be the one to help me through some dark periods in my life. Got into the series shortly after dealing with numerous traumatic events back to back, and whenever I was in a bad mood I'd boot up the game to give myself something to do.
Most Puyo games usually follow one of three protagonists, Arle, Amitie, and Ringo, as they wind up having to resolve some magical occurrence via children's puzzle games. Tetris in particular follows the former two being thrown into Ringo's world as they meet up with Captain Tee of the SS Tetra and all his goons. The Puyo and Tetris dimensions were not meant to be merged, and the gang work together to find out the culprit of all this dimension tomfoolery.
I initially watched the cutscenes on YouTube out of boredom one night and instantly found myself hooked. Each of the characters has a fun and entertaining personality, and they're very memorable characters overall, even if some are...better than others. Game is generally pretty lighthearted though it does have its moments (and the existence of a certain character very much pushes the age rating.)
Gameplay is also very fun and addictive though it does have a learning curve, I am god awful at the game but still managed to beat it. Its sequel, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 isn't nearly as beloved as the first, yet I will defend its story anyways I think the characterization in this game is the best it's been in a while.
Maybe it was the magical escapism or just the fact that it was funny and I like funny things that helped me get through the dark times, but either way, I'm glad I was unhinged about this series for a while.
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And thus we have reached the end! I do want to give a few shoutouts to things I began watching this year, such as Degrassi, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, Yu-Gi-Oh, and a bunch of Scooby Doo movies (the latter no thanks to a certain series that came out not too long ago), and there were of course other things I wanted to mention but didn't know what to talk about or simply just forgot. Either way, while last year was physically and mentally taxing on me, it allowed me to sit back and get into a lot of cool media. Wonder what else I'll watch this year...
Be seeing you soon!
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