What I'm Watching
Currently Romeo X Juliet, an anime loosely based on the play. In an Italianesque floating city, 14 years after the brutal massacre of her family, Juliet is a masked swashbuckler fighting for the underdog!* She just bumped into Romeo, a sweet noble kid who rescued her on his flying horse. And so on. Backgrounds are lovely, characters are clear-eyed, voice-acting (Japanese, the English didn't appeal to me, though it wasn't bad) is lively, as is the soundtrack.
And for the second time, another anime, Ghost Hound. In a small town in the mountains, three kids with somewhat traumatic backstories are having out-of-body experiences. Meanwhile, the Shinto priest with a degree in anthropology is worried that his small daughter is either paranoid schizophrenic or channeling spirits (or both), another Shinto cult is playing around with curses, two psychologists are talking about electrical stimulation of the brain making people think they've met God, and tracking what's happening to the kids with interest, there's some really creepy stuff with an abandoned hospital, lots of backstory, and brewing is serious business. Very thinky.
*Currently hiding out as a boy called 'Odin' at the theatre of a struggling playwright called William. Was just convinced to put on a dress and crash a masked ball by one of the actresses, who doesn't know 'Odin' is a girl, just thinks he's pretty. Also, I think Benvolio has a crush on Romeo, but it's early days yet.
EDIT:
I finally got to the end of Romeo x Juliet. Most of it's wonderful swashbuckling fun with a few side-tours through farming and theatre. And then you get to the last two episodes.
As eldritch horror goes, it's objectively fairly mild, but I wasn't expecting it and I watched it at night. Ngggnh.
But after the scary bit that will probably interfere with my sleep patterns, there's totally a happy ending for most of the participants! (I particularly liked how Tybalt turned out.)
Ngggnh.
And for the second time, another anime, Ghost Hound. In a small town in the mountains, three kids with somewhat traumatic backstories are having out-of-body experiences. Meanwhile, the Shinto priest with a degree in anthropology is worried that his small daughter is either paranoid schizophrenic or channeling spirits (or both), another Shinto cult is playing around with curses, two psychologists are talking about electrical stimulation of the brain making people think they've met God, and tracking what's happening to the kids with interest, there's some really creepy stuff with an abandoned hospital, lots of backstory, and brewing is serious business. Very thinky.
*Currently hiding out as a boy called 'Odin' at the theatre of a struggling playwright called William. Was just convinced to put on a dress and crash a masked ball by one of the actresses, who doesn't know 'Odin' is a girl, just thinks he's pretty. Also, I think Benvolio has a crush on Romeo, but it's early days yet.
EDIT:
I finally got to the end of Romeo x Juliet. Most of it's wonderful swashbuckling fun with a few side-tours through farming and theatre. And then you get to the last two episodes.
As eldritch horror goes, it's objectively fairly mild, but I wasn't expecting it and I watched it at night. Ngggnh.
But after the scary bit that will probably interfere with my sleep patterns, there's totally a happy ending for most of the participants! (I particularly liked how Tybalt turned out.)
Ngggnh.