Well the title explains itself. For me, 2025 was not that particularly good to start with, but it did get better over time (in spite of the world enshittifying). But less about really personal matters, here I am to list the cool shit in media (vomits) I experienced (vomits) this year, most of which was made before this year. Or this decade. Supposedly in chronological order of when I consumed (hold on it’s coming back again where’s your bathroom) these pieces of media (astaghfirullah MAKE IT STOP). I don’t intend to include series I have continued on from previous years.
If you would like to tell me that the media (Get the phone. Call 999) talked about here is problematic (WHY DID I TAKE IPECAC) in some way, please harass and doxx me at pfpchanger.bsky.social. Much appreciated.
During the first few months I was still in A-Levels and I believed that playing games was a waste of my time, and thought consuming slop content on YouTube instead of studying was a far better usage of it… I didn’t play much video games. But one I did play a few times for the first time this year was a neat little game made by Capcom called Rival Schools 2. Or Moero! Justice Gakuen if you’re Japanese. Or Project Justice if you’re American.
I played this through my own Dreamcast… with a burned disc, this game is too expensive to buy even loose. But yes it is a fun game. The fast paced nature of it was a bit too much to begin with, but when I got into the groove it was a really solid experience, and I especially like the team mechanic and the special moves that can come with them. The music is great, man I FUCKING LOVE that character selection screen. In general I think it a very competently put together game… unfortunate however that the game had a pretty cheap localisation, with some extra modes being excluded. It’s available in the recently released Capcom Fighting Collection 2.
I also have played the original Rival Schools on PS1. Similar thoughts to what I have on its sequel, with the exception of some features not there, and especially in regards to the localisation.
also Hinata best girl. Ran is cool too.
Watched Slayers back in 2024. Thought it was some crazy shit that was fucking cool and funny. This is still some crazy shit that is cool and funny. It gives me an excuse to talk about the series as a whole, and I will say I love how the series balances swords and sorcery, and a heavy dose of comedy. There’s a reason this show was popular in the 1990s if you were an otaku. There was an episode where they were… trying to cook dragons, and that is a very funny episode. Bait and switch jokes around the episode to keep you laughing. I still need to finish this, but mark my words I will enjoy the rest of it.
Haven’t finished this. But I have enjoyed much of what I have seen. Think Magic Kaito meets Sailor Moon. You get the picture. I enjoyed the various heists within the series and the elaborate setups to them, the random religious themes, and also the transformation scene is great.
I do like the dynamic between Meimi/Saint Tail and Asuka Jr. (he is a boy despite the name). As of where I watched up to I could clearly tell Meimi does show affection to Asuka, and while Asuka is more focused on finding… Saint Tail, in turn finding out who Meimi truly is, he does also clearly show affection to her, just not in a very direct way.
“She’ll steal your heart!” is the show’s tagline. I will say, the series does elate feelings of warmth, with the plotlines, artstyle, and the music.
Ok yes, white people rap (maybe I have no swag, I dunno). Specifically from the Czech Republic. But I dunno, I have a soft spot for really violent horrorcore, (maybe I’m violent myself, I dunno). This stuff got me through the days of sixth form, where I had to wake up at 6am to 6:30am and get out at around 7… I dunno, do you want me to take it out on random people? His music is generally very rough sounding, and takes on many taboo topics, such as killing all of humanity , being a pedophile, and killing drug dealers.
Reznik/Martin Pohl’s songwriting is rather gratuitously edgy, I mean it is Eastern European. He made a song called Konency reseni (translation: Final Solution), complaining about the homeless and suggesting to beat them up and kill them… and then he made a music video about the trial that happened that resulted in him being found not guilty. He has collaborated with other people also known in the horrorcore scene (MC Bushpig, Heaven, Dope Dod), and it’s very interesting hearing the linguistic shift between these rappers (Reznik raps in his native language). Martin Pohl has also made a variety of games, and feature films under his real name. Recently he made one called “Na plech”, about a squeaky-clean wannabe worker coming into contact with drug addicts. I plan to watch that soon. If you're reading back to this and wondering why there isn't any other music on here, I will say that I cannot really think of any other artists to really put here that I can talk on for a paragraph like this. If you have any recommendations, do get in contact!
But yes, I love violence. And that’s why I loved listening to his works.
As I’ve made clear before, I love Detective Conan. So when news broke out that another one of Gosho’s series was getting an anime adaptation… another one as they did do so in the 1990s, I was ecstatic. And then I saw the trailer. And then I was even more excited. And then I watched it for myself. And then I realised… this is peak.
The animation in this series is some of the best I have seen… ever. It’s very fluid, and transfers Gosho’s classic stylle very well. It also doesn’t have washed out colours, everything is very vibrant. The story itself is rather… meathead shonen type, don’t go expecting something grandiose, but if you enjoyed stuff like Dragon Ball then you probably will enjoy this as well. Story’s about a young powerful samurai who becomes a freeloader on some middle schooler, and then gets himself into shit with an oni, have to go into training and find really powerful orbs for swords and for some reason there’s time travel, and a mecha in one episode… literally the definition of the rule of cool, it is in your brain’s best interest to watch this. Dopamine will release momentarily.
David Starkey is a piece of shit historian who fell off once he started spouting out stupid shit about Black people in the UK, but I was recommended this series by my A Level history teacher before he fell off, particularly the episodes most appropriate to us, the ones focusing on the Stuart era. Good documentary, yes. Great way to study lazily, yes. Good way to tell people David Starkey is a cunt, yes.
After finishing Breaking Bad, I told myself I would start watching BCS after I finished my exams. And so I did.
If you don’t know, the show is a prequel (mostly) to the events of Breaking Bad, focusing on our favourite sleazy lawyer, Saul Goodman, or Jimmy McGill. I think the first season (which is as much as I’ve seen so far) is pretty good at setting things up for his rise as a corrupt lawyer, as he struggles to make it up the lawyer ladder. And I do like the main characters which did not appear in BrBa, particularly Chuck and his crazy hypersensitivity! And also him acting as an antagonist to Jimmy.
I don’t have any idea what chicanery is yet, don’t ask me about it.
I love this series! I haven’t finished even season 1, but I love what I've seen of it. It is incredibly adorable, and an absolute comfort to watch, it elicits the same sort of feelings I had for Saint Tail, and especially the same kind I got from Cardcaptor Sakura. World’s unluckiest pretty girl becomes a witch apprentice after turning a witch into a frog, and then has her other friends become witch apprentices. Yeah this is the greatest thing of all time. I think the entire thing is crafted with a huge amount of warmth and appreciation for the genre, god I love the transformation sequences, and the show is actually pretty funny at times. I could see my younger self actually enjoying this young (in private though no way would I confess seeing this at that age, or even now). I do think it is a good show for children as well, not only because of the entertainment, but it does also showcase very real social issues that children may end up having to deal with, such as divorce, death of a loved one, bullying, feeling like you don’t belong… I really really don’t want to sound like Andrew Dobson when I say stuff like this, but I do think that this show approaches such topics in a way that is appropriate for the age demographic.
So watch it. Fucking watch it now. Here’s the torrent. What’s that, you don’t have the space for torrents? Okay, here’s a link to watch on an online website! Report me to Neocities for piracy, they probably don’t fucking care if they host Nazi and other fascist sites, and I am not shitting you when I say that. Look it up! Or don’t, a better use of your time is Ojamajo Doremi anyways.
You may call me lazy for not finishing these series before talking about them, and I do have a good excuse for only reviewing a show I have seen one episode of. It’s because the episodes are nearly TWO HOURS long. That is about as long as one of those special episodes of Conan, with commercial breaks. Despite the length I still feel the show is best suited for TV, as its paced in a way that suits it.
And the show itself? I do like what I saw of it a lot, being a mild-mannered, but cool and intelligent detective in his Sicilian town, with him having frequent bouts with his provinces’ bureaucracy. The episode I watched, the Snack Thief, has a bunch of unconnected cases, in which Montalbano is able to put the pieces together to solve a large overarching case.
Very intelligently designed show, which I assume adapts its literary source material well. Also very humorous at times.
Idk cinematography is good i guess
My dad loves the Godfather. It is easily one of his favourite films. And he was especially happy to show me and talk about these three films. And I was glad to see it, as it is truly a great mafia epic.
Belissmo, to say the least. It’s a film that doesn’t dumb down anything, and requires your attention at all times to tell its rather intricate plot of a mafia family’s trials and tribulations, and rise and fall. I always thought the first film was causation, Part II as consequences (at least on Michael’s part, for Vito I’d say it was more so caustion or setup), and Part III as aftermath… and an inescapable aftermath for Michael at that.
2>1>3. Simple as. I think maybe the hate for 3 is overblown, but I definitely do feel its a step down from the other two, mainly because they already succeeded at saying what they wanted to say with no addition really needed, and Part 3 just adds onto that.
Also you know I love violence… so yes these films being rather violent for their time definitely helped me like it a lot.
This is where I really fell in love with this series. Ridge Racer is one of the launch titles for the original PlayStation… and while it does show, it plays very well. The graphics are rather impressive for its time, but regardless of the graphics, it feels very fun to play. It’s rather high-octane, and will leave glued to your controller, especially with its banging soundtrack.
There is an urban legend that says if you play the track named “Ridge Racer” in the soundtrack, and if you are caught speeding, your speeding ticket is declared void and any crimes you may have committed are considered pardoned, irrespective of your jurisdiction. Why don’t you try it? Or if you don’t have a licence, play this game. It is rather short, I believe there are only 8 tracks in the game, but you’ll keep wanting to come back for more. Especially with that Galaxian loading screen minigame that unlocks special cars if you complete it. Speaking of licences…
Gran Turismo is an acquired taste. You’re not used to it at first as it plays more… realistically. Then you start playing it more, and try your hand at the licences. As I did that… I began to love this game. Getting the hang of driving in this game feels very satisfying, and even more so for successfully completing races. I feel in general this was easier for me to get into than GT3 (not dogging that, it’s still good, but this is much more simpler to get through even with some of the licence tests being bullshit). And the graphics… oh my fucking god, the graphics look absolutely stunning for a late PS2 game. Obviously it is a PS2 game, but the cars look nice, and the tracks are very pretty and detailed. Also the soundtrack rocks, especially the European one. Reason is Treason forever!
Another series of films my dad made me go through, though I didn’t see all of them. Good? Yes, I enjoyed my time with many of these films. Definitely films your dad shows you material, I guess.
I have seen some of this show before, but I am putting it here because nobody has heard of it and also I forgot to watch three other episodes of it. It’s a great show parodying news shows at the time (not really a satire of current events, more so on news presentation), with absurd news stories, a rather colourful set of people reporting (Chris Morris himself is rather instigative, Peter O’Hanohanorahan being a very incompetent reporter, and Alan Partridge being a failure as usual, this time as a sports reporter). As a news intro aficionado I love the graphics package used in this show, not just because it’s in Gill Sans but even more so for it being made by the same guys who did the stuff for ITN. This is the news! I also recommend Chris Morris' later works Brass Eye, and Jam.
This is just here to tell people “hey I play Puyo Puyo!” And I do play a lot of it, and have played this game specifically for extended sessions.
This is specifically here to say, man holy fucking shit they could do this on PSP? I can’t believe that, but I probably should, considering I also played Wipeout Pure a lot. I play a lot of racers, yes. I do remember this because the guy I got my PSP 2000 from gave me this game, alongside X-Men as a bonus/apology for the PSP originally shipping broken and having to be returned to be fixed.
TLDR: Crocodiles
Longer explanation: I liked this movie but man it made me realise that I need to play serious catchup with this series, given quite a few characters in this film appeared which I have heard of, but have never seen in action until now. Including Amuro, yes that is some serious catch up that would make Henry Kelly tell me to give up trying to win the Head to Head round (and there’s your British TV reference of the day!). Also funny story when I tried to first watch this film I accidentally booked a screening showing the film in Mandarin subs…
Quoting my review on Letterboxd
“I saw this film at my university, and interestingly enough one of the directors was there for a Q&A session. I twas quite interesting hearing his thoughts on the film production process, given he was an Englishman producing a film in a language he wasn't as proficient at.
This film is sort of like a musical drama... not really with the stereotypical Mongolian throat singing or whatever but rather about more modern Mongolian rock music, in a country with a high young population (and also takes place in urban Ulaanbataar)
now if only I could find somewhere to rewatch this film"
While we’re on the topic of Letterboxd, I would also like to mention I also saw a series of short films made by Black filmmakers for Black History Month. I’m gonna be honest I’m not really that bothered paraphrasing what I said about these films here, so you can check there for my thoughts on each of them. The same can be said about my review of Boris - Il film. Though maybe I’ll put it up here as well as my review on Boris 4 when I get around to finishing it.
Second Satoshi Kon film I watched. And probably my favourite. His films are very ripe for picking themes, and in this film, man did it give me a lot to think about. Particularly its critiques on idol culture in Japan and celebrity status, especially as the line blurs between Mima (the main character) and her acting, and her actual life, compounded by a stalker who still isn’t over her graduation from idol work… and also her past self haunting herself, and her seeming betrayal of her image. As a film from 1997, its usage of the internet reflects our current status quite poignantly: particularly in the film blurring the lines of reality and fiction, which in an era of AI slop, has only become more poignant. I have a lot to talk about, and you can check my Letterboxd review on it, which contains spoilers.
Another Satoshi film. And I did like this a lot as well. Quite obvious biblical symbolism to be pointed at with the baby and the three homeless people….yes I’m not even bothering with explaining it now for the uninitiated. But I think the central theme regarding it is… coming to terms with your past. All three became homeless because of them refusing to come to terms with the situations that they have built for themselves before running away… and having to take care of a baby has basically “coincidentally” made them confront their past, whether directly or not. I haven’t published my full thoughts here, but if you wanna check what I have said about this film in full, click here.
Sequel to Rowan Atkinson’s Man vs Bee, which I didn’t see. I think I am now more tolerant towards babies, thanks guys, and I did find the series funny, and now I do want to see what Man vs Bee is like. I’m kinda burnt out after writing everything else, you see.
Overall, 2025. Great shit that I have watched and played. This is gonna be hell to put together. And nobody’s probably gonna read it. But if you have, why not share this blog around? If you do so, maybe you’ll give me an incentive to write more blogs, and give me an excuse to write a proper CSS for this shitty looking website.
Here is where you can find the stuff I have talked about which I have not given a source to:
Rival Schools 2: https://cdromance.org/dc-iso/project-justice-usa/
Slayers: https://nyaa.si/view/1192299 (apologies if the quality is shite)
Saint Tail: https://nyaa.si/view/1769671
Reznik: https://www.youtube.com/@ZNKofficial
Yaiba: https://nyaa.si/view/2034340
Monarchy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsuuZ_20zJEaINpHYho5DHtxITsD1eWc6 (I dunno why but episode 9 is not available
Better Call Saul: https://ext.to/better-call-saul-s01-s06-complete-1080p-webrip-x264-eac3-surge-9051348/
Inspector Montalbano: https://archive.org/details/inspector-montalbano-s-15-e-01-the-catalanotti-method-1080-p-x-264-rb-58 (sign up for the Archive for this)
The Godfather trilogy https://rutracker.org/forum/tracker.php?nm=godfather
actually i can't be bothered anymore. The rest can be found on those websites hopefully. Happy new year or whatever.