[2024/4/4 @ 8:08am] recently i watched 'ron kamonohashi's forbidden deductions' cuz i'm a total sucker for a good old-fashioned slightly unhinged detective show. honestly, though, i ended
up being a little disappointed. i think it's because it had so much potential but just didn't really do much with it. though, it'll probably get better later in the story.

i'll try to make this as spoiler-free as possible... pretty much as soon as we're introduced to the main character (detective isshiki), it's pretty clear what kind of guy he is. that in itself isn't
necessarily a bad thing, but i feel like he didn't really have any growth over the course of the show. there are only 13 episodes out at the moment, but my issue is that there were
a good few moments where they missed the opportunity to make him a more interesting character. moments that could have had real meaning behind them were just consistently ruined with the
same old gags, and i feel like it's one of those rare instances where a show would actually be better if it took itself a little more seriously... i mean, you can only make the same
joke so many times before it gets old, and in this case the joke is basically just that he's kinda dumb. that coupled with the goofy faces he's always making... a little annoying.

for ron's part, i'll probably be getting into some mild spoilers, but i feel like his character kind of suffers the same treatment that most sherlock-esque characters do, which is a
shame. rather than showing how smart he is through making genuinely exceptional deductions, it feels like they just kind of dumb down everyone except him to make him look smarter.
that, and also not really giving the audience the evidence they would need to make any deductions of their own (which imo is a lot of the fun of detective media in general) just
kinda makes him come across as a little bit of a fraud.

to me at least, the excitement of watching someone crack a difficult case comes from seeing how they put all the pieces together to create a cohesive narrative of what happened...
not so much from watching someone create the pieces themselves, if that makes sense? since detective isshiki is the main character, you're basically seeing the story from the
perspective of a guy who has no idea what's happening at any given moment, so the deductions themselves feel a bit anticlimactic.

i think the worst part is probably his weird unexplained ability to (against his own will) make people try to off themselves, which is why he's
working with detective isshiki at all. i feel like it could have been used in a much more meaningful way. detective isshiki's role in the story is pretty much just to stop ron's
ability from killing anyone. to do this, there are times that he puts his own life in danger without really thinking about it. i think my biggest issue with this is the fact that
he doesn't really think about it... ever...? like, there are a couple times he nearly dies, and i think it could have been great for his character to doubt what he's doing even a
little more and to continue doing it despite the risk because he wants to save people and to protect his friend.

also... he always, always waits until the last possible second to try to save anyone. i think it's probably because they wanted it to feel suspenseful, but it's just frustrating.
i mean, you've done this how many times now, and when ron's ability activates, you're still watching with everyone else like "what the heck is happening?"
it shouldn't take a full minute of you watching a guy slowly walk towards a cliff muttering that they're gonna jump off for you to realize you gotta do something.

without ever really having him worry about it in any significant way, and after watching him do the same exact thing like 3 episodes in a row, it just gets a little repetitive and
shallow. he worries about it a little, but just never enough to impact anything. i think it could have been a significant conflict, but the way they addressed it, it was resolved so quickly and mainly
consisted of isshiki reassuring ron about it.

all this isn't to say i didn't like the show. if i didn't, i would have dropped it at episode 2 or 3. i genuinely did enjoy it a lot, but i feel like it's important to take into
consideration how aspects of even things you like could have been improved. and, of course, this is just my personal opinion. i think, if this show gets another season, that would
help a lot, but as much as i like the characters i just wish there was a little more depth there. i would love to read the manga sometime because the art looks much better, at least.
i think, overall, it just kind of suffers from the whole 'the side character is the real main character' thing, and i'd love to see them expand on detective isshiki's character
more as it could make the dynamic between him and ron as unlikely friends a lot more meaningful. i feel like he's just constantly being overshadowed which makes him feel kind of
redundant as a character.

if or when season 2 comes out, i would love to re-watch it and develop an updated opinion on it, because i do think it has a lot of potential and it's fun to watch.

all this to say, basically, the show was quite fun but it wouldn't be my first recommendation to someone looking for a detective show to watch and really get into.

[2024/4/20 @ 9:48am] recently i picked up a sailor moon dvd, so i've been watching that with my cousin. it's been a lot of fun! she and i have both been really enjoying it.
it's kind of nice to have a physical copy of the show, too, since i don't need to download it or use the internet to watch it. it's made me want to get a lot more of my favourite shows on dvd,
but that would be really expensive for the longer ones...

similarly, i started collecting cds. i visited a few different shops and picked up some albums i remembered liking when i was younger. i love how much effort some bands put into how they
arrange the cds, like transitions and extra little bits. one of my current favourites i picked up is 'phantoms' by marianas trench. i also really like 'razzmatazz' by idkhow.

i'm thinking of making a separate blog for music, too. i'm constantly looking for new music because i listen to it for hours on end when i'm working on my projects. for now, though, i think
i'll just add my spotify if anyone's interested.

i also recently picked up volume 13 of 'mob psycho 100' and junji ito's 'mimi's tales of terror' and those were both pretty fun to read through. i don't think 'mimi's tales of terror' would
be my first recommendation to someone interested in junji ito's manga, though. i think 'remina' is still my favourite, and has been for a long time. i like to recommend that one because
it's not as long as something like 'tomie' and it's a good stand-alone story. i prefer that kind of format, where it's one longer story rather than a lot of short stories.

i've been thinking of rearranging the pins on my ita bags again too, but it's a lot of work... it's really fun, but my fingers always hurt a lot afterwards.

by the way, i'm not sure if i've mentioned this yet, but feel free to recommend any shows or manga you're particularly fond of as well. though i only have a few i really like, i do like to
watch all different kinds of shows. i just only listed the ones that i like and have totally finished on the front page, lol. you never know what you'll get jumpscared by in the next season
of a show, so i try not to get too invested in anything until i've totally finished it. i'm a little less reserved when it comes to games or music, but i've been scarred too many times by random
anime and manga suddenly taking some kind of weird turn... now i'm careful not to list anything or buy merch until i've totally finished watching or reading something.