Media October 2018
Note: the very last thing I review has a rape trigger but I put a big warning ahead of it, and don't go into detail.
Books:
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Moxiang Tongxiu: Another Chinese m/m novel by the author of The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, because I need another translation to be waiting for (this one is also about halfway done) A regular Chinese guy dies and wakes in the body of the villain of the trashy harem fantasy novel he'd been eviscerating online, he then becomes so focussed on not dying at the hands of the hero as in the original novel that he completely fails to notice the hero falling in love with him(*). It's silly, and the romance doesn't really work for me, but it's funny and inventive. The hero is 14 at the start which felt a bit weird, but even though the villain character is an adult, and the hero's teacher, the dude possessing him is younger, and the hero grows up into a ridiculously overpowered yandere seme (who still acts like a 14 year old, which bothered me less when I found out the author was probably a teen when she wrote it) Since the humour and plotting is pretty broad I skimmed a google translate version of the remaining chapters which was...an experience. But it seems like it'll be pretty fun, a nice mix of mocking fantasy tropes and having sincere fun with them.
(*)And yes, this is a genderswapped version of Destruction Flag Otome's plot, poking at Chinese het novels aimed at men instead of Japanese het games aimed at women. But this actually commits to a same sex romance.
Outland by
maldoror_chant: Original slowburn m/m about a very restrained Japanese accountant who falls into an magical world based on Classical Antiquity, and forms a bond with an Assyrian soldier. I really enjoyed this, as both an understated romance and fun fantasy novel exploring cultural differences, until right near the end when a man in a dress showed up and I realised the author's attitudes on gender were Not Good For Me To Be Reading (I mean it's not treated as inherently bad and would probably be fine for most people, but it hit a weird button for me) The first story in the series ends at a satisfying place, though part of me wishes I felt able to keep reading just because I want to know if I'm right and the author is setting up two Big Reveals that the main character (who has been repeatedly shown to be very clever about this sort of thing) should have figured out. Specifically, it feels like there's going to be a moment where he realises there are major social/relationship consequences to be being seen as The Bottom, something I feel like a GAY JAPANESE MAN would be aware of as a possibility. (Also the author is clearly way more into ancient history than maths, but gave the Maths Magic their best shot)
Four Roads Cross by Max Gladstone: Sequel to Three Parts Dead. Didn't grab me within the first few chapters but probably would have been fine under other circumstances. Unfortunately, despite being set in an alternate magical version of Earth it's obviously riffing on US political issues, and while I'd probably mostly agree with the conclusions the narrative comes to, US political issues are not my idea of fun escapism right now.
Games:
Gorogoa: A really lovely, gentle puzzle game. Like playing a Sean Tan painting. Required some mild quick thinking at one point, I was fine but someone with very slow reflexes might have trouble. I have no idea what the plot was about, there's some points where the protagonist is in a wheelchair and the symbolism of it went over my head so for all I know it was something ableist that'll bug people wth better comprehension than me >.> The puzzles are wonderfully surreal, the meaning of images changes as you zoom in and out. I found them just the right mix of challenging without being impossible. I did get stuck and look up a walkthrough one time but turned out to have missed something pretty obvious.
Spider-man: I saw this hyped a whole bunch for it's accessibility options, including an easy option, as well as it's great plot/characters etc. But I got like 2 minor fights into the intro section and it was too hard on Easy. The web swinging mechanic was also a bit fiddly. I could probably get past the fight if I tried enough times, but then there'd just be more of the same to follow. Probably fun if your reflexes are faster than mine :(
Animated TV:
Hilda: Really cute and fun kids show about a sweet but feisty scandinavian girl having adventures involving various local mythological creatures. I've only seen a couple of episodes but have been told it's all good.
The Dragon Prince: Pretty generic Epic Fantasy where the Land of Elves and Magic has an Ancient Emnity with the Human Lands, and a human prince must team up wth an elf girl to try and prevent war. The mix of heavy handed Fantasy Tropes with snarky american teen humour didn't work for me, and while it had some interesting/engaging moments and characters I got bored and gave up a couple of episodes in.
Asobi Asobase: Anime about a bunch of schoolgirls forming a club for playing simple games like rock paper scissors. I can't remember what it did to annoy me, I think it was too male gazey? But I didn't make it through the first episode.
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***CONTENT NOTE: RAPE TRIGGER ***
*********************************
The warning is "rape trigger" and not "rape" because no actual rape happens, I just got triggered anyway. Thanks brain!
Dakaichi: Trashy m/m about a veteran actor who gets into a rivalry with the younger dude who beat him for Hottest Actor, except the younger dude is actually MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM but bad at boundaries and consent. Cue dubcon where the veteran actor is very tsundere. The art quality is patchy, and while some of the jokes made me laugh it's not the best written thing ever. I enjoyed the first episode well enough while watching then got HORRIBLY TRIGGERED like half an hour later? Even though it's the sort of thing I am usually fine with?? I have no idea how it'll ping for other people.
This entry was originally posted at https://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/684610.html. There are
comments.
Books:
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Moxiang Tongxiu: Another Chinese m/m novel by the author of The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, because I need another translation to be waiting for (this one is also about halfway done) A regular Chinese guy dies and wakes in the body of the villain of the trashy harem fantasy novel he'd been eviscerating online, he then becomes so focussed on not dying at the hands of the hero as in the original novel that he completely fails to notice the hero falling in love with him(*). It's silly, and the romance doesn't really work for me, but it's funny and inventive. The hero is 14 at the start which felt a bit weird, but even though the villain character is an adult, and the hero's teacher, the dude possessing him is younger, and the hero grows up into a ridiculously overpowered yandere seme (who still acts like a 14 year old, which bothered me less when I found out the author was probably a teen when she wrote it) Since the humour and plotting is pretty broad I skimmed a google translate version of the remaining chapters which was...an experience. But it seems like it'll be pretty fun, a nice mix of mocking fantasy tropes and having sincere fun with them.
(*)And yes, this is a genderswapped version of Destruction Flag Otome's plot, poking at Chinese het novels aimed at men instead of Japanese het games aimed at women. But this actually commits to a same sex romance.
Outland by
maldoror_chant: Original slowburn m/m about a very restrained Japanese accountant who falls into an magical world based on Classical Antiquity, and forms a bond with an Assyrian soldier. I really enjoyed this, as both an understated romance and fun fantasy novel exploring cultural differences, until right near the end when a man in a dress showed up and I realised the author's attitudes on gender were Not Good For Me To Be Reading (I mean it's not treated as inherently bad and would probably be fine for most people, but it hit a weird button for me) The first story in the series ends at a satisfying place, though part of me wishes I felt able to keep reading just because I want to know if I'm right and the author is setting up two Big Reveals that the main character (who has been repeatedly shown to be very clever about this sort of thing) should have figured out. Specifically, it feels like there's going to be a moment where he realises there are major social/relationship consequences to be being seen as The Bottom, something I feel like a GAY JAPANESE MAN would be aware of as a possibility. (Also the author is clearly way more into ancient history than maths, but gave the Maths Magic their best shot)
Four Roads Cross by Max Gladstone: Sequel to Three Parts Dead. Didn't grab me within the first few chapters but probably would have been fine under other circumstances. Unfortunately, despite being set in an alternate magical version of Earth it's obviously riffing on US political issues, and while I'd probably mostly agree with the conclusions the narrative comes to, US political issues are not my idea of fun escapism right now.
Games:
Gorogoa: A really lovely, gentle puzzle game. Like playing a Sean Tan painting. Required some mild quick thinking at one point, I was fine but someone with very slow reflexes might have trouble. I have no idea what the plot was about, there's some points where the protagonist is in a wheelchair and the symbolism of it went over my head so for all I know it was something ableist that'll bug people wth better comprehension than me >.> The puzzles are wonderfully surreal, the meaning of images changes as you zoom in and out. I found them just the right mix of challenging without being impossible. I did get stuck and look up a walkthrough one time but turned out to have missed something pretty obvious.
Spider-man: I saw this hyped a whole bunch for it's accessibility options, including an easy option, as well as it's great plot/characters etc. But I got like 2 minor fights into the intro section and it was too hard on Easy. The web swinging mechanic was also a bit fiddly. I could probably get past the fight if I tried enough times, but then there'd just be more of the same to follow. Probably fun if your reflexes are faster than mine :(
Animated TV:
Hilda: Really cute and fun kids show about a sweet but feisty scandinavian girl having adventures involving various local mythological creatures. I've only seen a couple of episodes but have been told it's all good.
The Dragon Prince: Pretty generic Epic Fantasy where the Land of Elves and Magic has an Ancient Emnity with the Human Lands, and a human prince must team up wth an elf girl to try and prevent war. The mix of heavy handed Fantasy Tropes with snarky american teen humour didn't work for me, and while it had some interesting/engaging moments and characters I got bored and gave up a couple of episodes in.
Asobi Asobase: Anime about a bunch of schoolgirls forming a club for playing simple games like rock paper scissors. I can't remember what it did to annoy me, I think it was too male gazey? But I didn't make it through the first episode.
*********************************
***CONTENT NOTE: RAPE TRIGGER ***
*********************************
The warning is "rape trigger" and not "rape" because no actual rape happens, I just got triggered anyway. Thanks brain!
Dakaichi: Trashy m/m about a veteran actor who gets into a rivalry with the younger dude who beat him for Hottest Actor, except the younger dude is actually MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM but bad at boundaries and consent. Cue dubcon where the veteran actor is very tsundere. The art quality is patchy, and while some of the jokes made me laugh it's not the best written thing ever. I enjoyed the first episode well enough while watching then got HORRIBLY TRIGGERED like half an hour later? Even though it's the sort of thing I am usually fine with?? I have no idea how it'll ping for other people.
This entry was originally posted at https://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/684610.html. There are
comments.