This week I finished Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. It was great! The perfect show for any sad old man enjoyers, and those who prefer young dumbasses get their fill as well! Maybe it would be best to watch some Akane Banashi real quick if you don’t already know what Rakugo is and how it works though; I’m guessing it makes some assumptions of knowledge that the average westerner will not have. For example, familiarity with stories like “shinigami” which show up a lot in bits and pieces but (as far as I can remember) not in their entirety. Anyways, definitely worth the watch.

I then started watching Joshiraku. I’ll reserve most of my thoughts for when I finish it, but boy was that show made in the “LOL RANDOM” era of the internet.

I also watched a couple of movies! The first was Belle (2021). If I’m being honest, it was kinda mediocre. My wife stopped even paying attention a quarter of the way through the movie and I can’t blame her at all. It felt like it took in all of the worst parts of Summer Wars, but without all of the charming parts of Summer Wars. This director seems obsessed with the idea of a metaverse, but also doesn’t seem to have spent any time in places like VR Chat or MMOs to find out how people actually act in that sort of place, or how those sorts of places are constructed.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya was a much better movie, and watching them back-to-back did Belle no favors. Both of them featured main characters who were popular singers online. Both of them featured fights in a sort of game world. Only one of them did a good job of either of those things. I think Cosmic Princess Kaguya benefited a lot from that modern fairy tell feeling you get when one of the characters finds the other in an RGB telephone pole at the beginning of the movie. I feel like this primed my brain to be more willing to suspend disbelief, but at the same time Cosmic Princess Kaguya is just fundamentally a more well-written movie than Bell is, so I didn’t find myself actually needing to do so nearly as often. The characters are better, the relationships between the characters are better, and the overall plot is better.

I’m nearly finished everything I wanted to watch from 2025 Q4.

The only one left is Shuumatsu-Touring. The characters are nice but the plot so far (EP9) is not very engaging. I thought this will be the best so I saved it for last. Wrong move.

It seems that my strategy of watching 1 trailer each and bubble sort the whole season based on my predicted enjoyment, is not giving a good result.

Finished this week (kind of)

• Towa no Yuugure I think this one has the best visual out of roughly 30 I picked from 2025 Q4. Okay-ish story, nothing that will stick with me long afterward. ED is goooood.
• SPY×FAMILY Season 3 It’s been a long while since anime get an audible laugh out of me.

• The Fire Hunter Skipped second season back when it’s airing. Decided to rewatch the whole thing. Not sure if I would watch again if there is a remake in the future. I enjoy the mysteriousness and the world building part up to the end of first season. I don’t know how to describe this kind of “civilization after shit hits the fan” revelation ending, and I don’t remember ever liking any that I have seen.

For 2025 Q4, within the scope of what I watch, I can say without a doubt Campfire Cooking in Another World is the best. (I did not watch the horses)

edit:
forgot to mention Scarlet. I guess that’s how weak it is. Review on anilist already cover most of what I also think.

Made a big purchase of airsoft parts few months back. The parts arrived this week and to set the mood, I’m getting some cute girls with guns ready to binge. If anyone have more, please let me know.

• Sabagebu!
• Upotte!!