2025 media

This is a loose summary of stuff I've read, watched, played, listened to, etcetera over the year of 2025. Honestly kind of a rough year for me, but I figured it'd be better to aggregate the stuff I've been doing somewhere than to never do it at all. I do this analog-style in my Hobonichi weeks too. This is loosely organized chronologically.

BanG Dream! Ave Mujica: The Die is Cast (Anime)

Genuinely amazing psychological horror anime that really innovates on BanG Dream's established formula all "merry bad end" style. Not only is Ave Mujica such a powerful musical/theater act, it packs a punch with its incredible scriptwriting and direction. It is the perfect continuation to its predecessor MyGO!!!!! and emblematic of gothic horror and literature.

Spoilers I had to dock a point unfortunately for the incest plot twist. I mostly don't think it was revealed *especially* elegantly and it could have used a little more foreshadowing. I like Uika as a character and think she's fascinating because of the twist, though.

Severance (Television)

A really incredible feat of television. The scriptwriting and comedy reminded me a lot of a childhood favorite, Pushing Daisies. Unfortunately, I found the 2nd season to be very weak compared to the first season.

In Stars and Time (Game)

The first time I've ever seen an RPGMaker game actually utilize the "RPG" part of the engine. The combat in this game was fun and addictive, but it got repetitive after a point and many objectives were telegraphed very poorly to the player. I did find the final act incredibly compelling though. Even though the characters are a bit one-note and I have qualms with the way the developer treats some of the game's open-endedness, it's a worthwhile experience.

Spoilers I did find the plot twist of Loop being Siffrin a little too obvious. Additionally there are a lot of little stray hints that feel like they tie into the main plot but are extraneous, I would've liked it better if they were telegraphed as being separate.

deltarune Chapters 3-4 (Game)

Extremely difficult to rate this as deltarune is literally not a finished game, but I loved chapters 3 and 4. They give a lot of excellent insight into the characters and the events that are going to unfold in the future without getting too bogged down by obtrusive metanarrative elements. Noelle has skyrocketed to the top of my favorite characters of all time list.

Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors by Janina Fisher (Book)

An interesting read, at least for someone who has DID. I think this is a hard recommendation for people who don't have C-PTSD orexperience splitting at all.

Silksong (Game)

Everything I ever wanted from a sequel to Hollow Knight and then more. Probably the perfect game with perfect gameplay, exploration, combat, music, and story.

"A Jury of her Peers" (Short Story)

A really interesting little murder mystery short story. I recommend it highly to anyone looking for a short story to add to their to-read list.

Kimi no Iro (Film)

I wanted to like this movie more, but sadly it really...didn't give me a reason to? It was just fine, really, but it's very vibes-based and there isn't a real "takeaway" to be had after I watched this film.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Film)

This film has, very frankly, not aged well but it is a VERY good watch. Looking forward to watching Wake Up, Dead Man.

Pluribus, Season 1 (Television)

The first show I have ever watched by Vince Gilligan. I think the conceit of this show is elevated so much by making the main character a lesbian.