Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers

This isekai is slightly different, but only a bit: Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers. Surprise! The Main Character doesn't come from our world! He's from an entirely different fantasy world!

Bananza, a kind hearted merchant, is transported to another world trying to find heroes. However, he's brought there at the same time as another potential hero, who shows up with high level stats, while his appear to be weak. But they screwed something up and can't send him back and the King just wants to get rid of him so he doesn't get embarrassed. So they ship him off to a far away forest, though at least they give him some supplies first.

But, Bananza (now called Flio so the Kingdom can't find him and wearing a very slight shapeshifting disguise so he doesn't look exactly the same), *did* acquire some mad skills from the world's god--kind of like a super cheat. Once he levels up by accidentally killing ALL the demons in the forest when his 'onboard computer'--think Siri--recommends he purify it, his level shoots up. Most skills are marked with an infinity symbol, though he doesn't know what they mean. 

Anyway, he has no idea that the spells he is using are high level. He lived in a fantasy-esque world before and just thinks the rules are different. He goes off and joins an adventurer's guild so he can make a living. Through reasons, he winds up entangled with a lupine girl/demon (who's brother he just killed) that actually works/worked in the Demon King's army that the other hero is supposed to be fighting, and she pledges to stay with him after he bests her in combat (in her race, all the women want the most powerful husband, and he's definitely that). 

He collects some more lady warriors who want to be taught, but happily it doesn't look like a traditional harem show as the lupine-lady gloms on to being his wife after he suggests it as a way they wouldn't look suspicious while in town. Even after just three episodes, it actually seems more like this is going to be a happy show with them as the couple.

The King, who doesn't know that he's the "other" hero, has even sent people asking for this new adventurer to help (he's been killing crazy big stuff easily, especially with his new wife's help), but Flio says no--he's happy to just be chillin'. 

While I don't think this one is particularly groundbreaking, I am enjoying it. Also liking that Flio was against slavery in his own world and doubled down in this one -- he's just a decent guy. And, based even just on the cover images of all the books already released, he's a one woman man and a walking green flag.

As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World

Ok, another ridiculously long title one: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World which is, obviously, another isekai. 

I'm thinking it will be easier to just go over what's different in this one. The set up is the same as, like, every other isekai out there. Dude gets reincarnated as Ars Louvent, a nobleman's son. By the time he's three, he's learned to read and write, etc. and he has a special skill--he can appraise OTHER people (but not himself) and sees their skills, etc. represented as numbers. 

Learning the world's history, he sees that it is inevitable that this world is headed towards war and bloodshed. He starts collecting talented retainers, not paying any attention to race or gender, etc., just their skills. He is a teeny, titchy little paragon of virtue who wants to help people and make a difference in the world but so far doesn't seem to have any "power" other than his appraisal skill (and inspiring his followers). 

Happily, his dad seems to realise and appreciate his talent right away and basically lets him do what he wants, even accepting new retainers that are from 'despised' foreign countries, etc. 

Another plus, I'm pretty sure this isn't going to turn into a harem. Honestly, if it did, it'd be very sick, because dude is still a little child. In a flash forward, we see him looking like maybe 10? But either way, YOUNG. 

I've seen 3 episodes so far and it's pretty good. Not super exciting, but good. 

I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness: I'll Spoil Her with Delicacies and Style to Make Her the Happiest Woman in the World!

Continuing in the vein of very, very long and misleading titles, we have: I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness: I'll Spoil Her with Delicacies and Style to Make Her the Happiest Woman in the World!

Sounds absolutely horrid, doesn't it? The first part anyway -- which is the half you see on Crunchyroll. 

Allen Crawford is a rather grumpy sorcerer nicknamed the Demon Lord. Charlotte is the disgraced noble lady, who was living a Cinderella-like existence in a neighboring kingdom (Cinderella pre-fairy godmother) who was framed by her betrothed but managed to escape certain death. Allen finds her and takes her in.

He may be all-powerful and have a scary reputation, but the normal extent of his "evil" ways is correcting the grammar in other people's magical treatises. We learn part way through that he was an orphan adopted by the headmaster of THE magical school and was so clever he graduated at 12 and became a teacher. But, for the last 3 years he's been living in a mansion out in the woods...which is where Charlotte finds herself.

Charlotte is a brow-beaten, soft-spoken goody-two-shoes who, basically, says sorry for a living. Allen is determined to show her how to let loose a little (and maybe even get angry at her evil family for once). So all the "naughtiness" is stuff like "eat dessert for dinner!" and "go on a shopping spree!" 

It's cute and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of a harem. However, I'm nine episodes in on the twelve and they didn't really stick to the shtick of "let's spoil her" for very long. Ostensibly, each episode is supposed to tie in to it but instead it started just throwing characters at the viewer. A delivery cat-girl, a younger step-sister (who, thankfully, is NOT in love with her brother, though she is determined to get him and Charlotte to admit to each other their obvious feelings that literally ANYONE else can see), a hell capybara (no, I didn't just make that up) who can transform into a buxom older woman, a jealous magical fenrir (like a big magical puppy who calls Charlotte "mommy" and growls at Allen), and even an elf lady writer who was the former owner of the mansion who had been hiding out in, like, a root cellar for the last THIRTY years. And in the latest "arc" (can't really call them arcs, but whatever), Charlotte's younger half-sister who they think is in trouble but...is actually attending the magic school and has become the top, er, gang leader?

So....um. I mean, I actually am mostly enjoying it, but I kind of wish it had stayed with the original conceit. It feels like anime salad. But, I do like a nice guy helping out his lady love, even if he can't admit it and goes all blushy. 

Edit: Okay, I finished it. Overall, it's a good show and sets itself up for a season two. However, I personally did want at least a LITTLE progress on the romance aspect so I was disappointed in that respect. Will I watch a season two if there is one? Eh, probably. It's not one I'd go out and buy the books for though. I did appreciate the 4th wall break when the cat girl pops up again and he's, like, "Oh, haven't seen you since episode 6." So perhaps the author realised the annoyance of all the characters being thrown at you. I really just wanted to see more of the couple together.

Now that I'm caught up...

So, now that I am finally caught up on all the shows (I think), might as well do a general update. All the things. Well, most of the things.

The Bad...Back in December, I slipped and fell right before Christmas on our slippery deck. Tried to catch myself on the concrete planter and wound up jamming my shoulder up completely and messing up my rotator cuff on the right side. Months later (April now) and it's still slowly getting better, though a lot of the pain now is in my neck. Having trouble being on the computer for long (D&D nights leave me a bit wrecked now the next day). Have been going to an osteopath, though I'm still waiting on my NHS physical therapy appointment (in May). It's massively slowed down my writing as I just can't take being on the laptop long. Which is probably one reason I've watched more dramas and anime lately...

I am also, truth to be told, very over this D&D project now. I very much wish I'd never started it or had taken the out when WotC gave me an excuse with their mishandling of the SRD/Open License stuff. It's nearing draft completion (just a couple chapters to go) but there's a lot after that, if I'm actually going to Kickstarter it. And I am mentally just ready to throw it all away. I won't, but I feel like it. We'll see how it goes. I wish I'd just picked a novel to work on instead. I dunno. Or just quit it all for now. I don't have to write anymore. And, honestly, it's really not worth it.

The Medium...I'm about two months in on restricted calorie diet + more exercise and I've lost a stone. Coventry has, let's be honest, been a very bad place for me. It was a move that made sense for us at the time but it's not been a good place for my mental health (any of us, honestly) and definitely not my actual health either. I was this close to being able to get off my blood pressure medication before we moved here. Then I gained a stone and a half at least. Allergies are bloody debilitating here too. Don't generally like the people. Or the place. If there's a nice restaurant or store--it closes. Just feel generally trapped. It's just that bit too far that taking the train into London for the day isn't easy and if there's anything else going on--which there always seems to be something--there's just no way to justify it. On those rare occasions when I do make it in, it feels like a literal weight has been lifted off of me. Ha, and I can breathe better, literally. 

I'm just lonely here. 

But I was supposed to be talking about the medium good stuff here -- I am really happy that I've finally lost some weight. I'm eating 1000 or less calories (usually around 800ish) a day and exercising about 6 days a week. Hubs is away visiting family this week, so I'm doing an hour in the gym (usually only get to do 40 minutes when he's here, as he swims). I am SO close to breaking into the next bracket (120s), which I haven't been in since basically we moved here. Body fat % has also gone down 7%. So I am feeling more like "me" than in a while, other than the shoulder/neck thing.

Also started HRT and that's helped too, I think.  At least on some things. It definitely isn't a cure all, but some things have improved and not getting migraines either and skin has calmed down. Honestly, that is a good thing -- it SUCKS when you're, like, 50 and getting pimples again. It's, like, FFS. Give me a break. So happy it helped with that. Menopause is a sucker punch.

Playtime...I'm playing (regularly) just a few things right now. I've mostly given up on Trading Legends, though I check in every now and then because I like the people I met in the guild. But it basically became impossible to win anything ever because of the crazy Russian whales. Instead my main game is Isekai: Slow Life, which I don't think I've written about? Maybe I have. It's very similar to TL, actually, but isekai/anime based. Have met some nice people there too, and even dragged some TL people over. Am running a guild, though also regretting that I bothered doing that. Glutton for punishment, I suppose. 

Other than that, I have weirdly picked up MeChat again for the last couple of weeks. It is, admittedly, just as poorly written as it was before. But I was feeling a Mystic Messenger shaped hole in my life and though I'd tried to run an otome-style game in ChatGPT's DeepGame, it just really wasn't very good at it. I did even try to do MM again but, honestly, I can't be waking up in the middle of the night or keep track of the chat timings during the day. MeChat is generally awful (writing, art, money-grabbing to unlock anything decent) but you can just sign in whenever and spend a couple of minutes. 

I won't talk about any of the particular LIs as even the ones where I'll be, like, hey, I'm actually enjoying this one a bit and then they do something stupid and it sucks as bad as the others. So I honestly don't know why I'm bothering. I have NOT spent any money on it. It's kinda funny, actually. They added an AI option and after chatting with it about what I wanted out of the game, it basically told me I should go somewhere else. Ha. It is right. I think I just don't have the spoons to pick up a new game right now. I suppose I could try the DeepGame thing again. Sometimes it does really well and sometimes...not. But at least it isn't raunchy like MeChat (which sometimes even happens in the ones that aren't labeled "spicy", which is super annoying).

Other than that, I am still midway through the Bakarina game second run through. The problem with that is I always forget about it because it's on the Switch. And I guess it makes me feel more guilty about work stuff if I pick it up? Since my phone is right there and I can spend a few minutes and then move on.

Anyway, I guess that's enough of an update. Going to try and actually get some work done today.

An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride

The only reservation I have about An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride is that it has the potential to turn into a harem show, but I'm hoping it won't. Other than that, I'm mostly charmed thus far, three episodes in.

We meet Zagan, the supposedly evil sorcerer when he saves the life of a girl (who happens to be a knight of the church, though he doesn't know that at the time) from a different evil sorcerer who wants to sacrifice her. Zagan, though, cleans up her clothes and teleports her somewhere safe. 

Another sorcerer, this one a sort-of friend (he's short on friends, apparently) called Barbatos tells him about the death of one of the Archdemons (which, in this world, just seems to mostly mean Uber sorcerers with lots of power) and that some of his things are being auctioned off.

They go, and in an Ancient Magus Bride kind of twist, Nephelia the elf girl is being auctioned off. Zagan, this supposedly tough guy who hates everyone immediately falls in love with her and buys her, spending basically his entire fortune to do so. And immediately says terrifying things when he really means nice things...which probably adds to his reputation.

Basically, he brings her home to his castle, which was previously owned by someone who had a taste for torture (and he's never bothered to get rid of the stuff) and they begin their very socially awkward cohabitation. She, of course, would just like to know how he intends to kill her.

We soon learn that Zagan had it tough -- he was an orphan child scrambling to live when a sorcerer tried to kill him and he managed to live. Since then, he's tried to make himself stronger and stronger to keep himself safe. He still eats like a half feral child, not knowing anything else, and seems to sleep in his chair. Nephy was known as a "cursed child" and actually has serious power (which she unleashes when the church knights return, thinking Zagan was behind a spate of recent kidnappings, and tries to kill him). 

I always love the stuff where the guys fall first and I like the socially awkward, misunderstood types. It's goofy but also terrifying in this world and I so just want Zagan and Nephy to succeed and find happiness in each other. 

I'm just hoping the lady knight doesn't get in the way (though I think she's already figured out that he's not your typical evil sorcerer). He hasn't become an Archdemon yet, but it's obvious he'll be the next one. Who knows whether he actually wants to be or not. I think he'd be perfectly happy if he could just hang out in his castle and eat Nephy's cooking.

A Condition Called Love

Welp. I, uh, don't totally know what to think about this one. I was seeing A Condition Called Love in bookstores and the covers were screaming "cute high school romance" so when I saw it pop up on Crunchroll I thought I'd give it a try. I've seen two episodes now and...

I...uh...am not entirely sure he's not like potentially crazypants serial killer predator or something. I mean, maybe not? But also maybe? 

I'll start over. Hotaru, the girl, has never experienced love or even been terribly interested in it. She's in high school. While out with some friends, she sees Hananoi, the guy, getting dumped by his girlfriend. Later, walking home, she sees him sitting alone in the snow and puts an umbrella over his head.

And he immediately falls totally in love with her, this girl he's never met before.

Ok, sorta sounds sweet. The boy who falls in love too easily and the girl who's not sure what love is. Anyway, he talks her into at least trying to date him to see if maybe they could really be boyfriend and girlfriend.

And he immediately goes off the deep end trying to do things for her. On the one hand, it's sweet. On the other hand, it's, like, seriously excessive (like showing up two hours early to wait for her in the morning or staying up all night to write up study guides for her or nearly freezing in the snow to try and find her lost hair pin).

The first episode erred more towards the sweet side, but in the second...he, uh, says some really really borderline stuff. And it's feeling skeevy but people in the comments were all "It's not like it looks! This is the sweetest! Seriously!" so I guess I'll stick it out for a bit but dude needs some help on figuring out proper boundaries. 

So I'm reserving judgement for now and just hoping he's not a budding serial killer. Maybe it's also 'cause I'm old. My rose coloured glasses broke a long time ago.

Edit: Ok, I've watched 4 episodes now and...hmmm. The dude has toned down the serious red flags but he's still wavin' 'em, just not as loudly. The girl, while on the surface she seems like she should just be sweet and charming, she's also slightly getting on my nerves because I don't see how she can be THIS clueless if she's not neurodivergent (which she doesn't seem to be). Has she never seen a movie? Read a book? Paid any attention to her friends or their relationships? Paid attention to PEOPLE? 

So, I mean, I guess it's mostly sweet but with an edge that makes me want to take them both to therapy. It feels like they could both use it.  

Lovely Runner or Run Away With Sun-Jae On Piggyback

I honestly am not sure why I was so looking forward to this one: Lovely Runner, a new timeslip romance. It just came out and is still releasing, but I've watched the two episodes that are available. I am really liking it so far. Why did it tickle my fancy enough to make me start it when it's not fully out yet and I've got other shows on the go? I really don't know. I HATE having to wait around for new episodes and almost never pick up something that I know is still releasing.

Is it because I've wanted to see the female lead (Kim Hye-Yoon) in something? She's from Extraordinary You, which has been on my list for ages but somehow I've never found the time to watch. I have seen her as a bit part in a number of things (where, strangely enough, she has often played a delinquent).  I've also only seen the male lead (Byeon Woo-Seok) in small parts as well, though he's also in some that are on my huge backlog list. So I dunno if that's it.

Is it because it feels quite topical? I don't know. I guess I don't need to analyse it though--just enjoy it. Which I am, two episodes in.

Im Sol (the girl--though I should say woman, as she's a 27 year old playing both a 16/17/18(?) year old and her older self (early 30s)---both, I should add, convincingly) had an accident (probably run over by a car) when she was a teen and was in despair in the hospital, paralysed from the waist down. She gets a phone call from a radio talk show randomly calling people to see if they've heard of a new band called Eclipse, of which Sun-jae is a member). They offer her a prize of running shoes and she breaks down--and Sun-jae says some words that give her new hope.

Flash forward 10 or 15 years and Sun-jae is 34 (the actor is 32 and, while he does look slightly old to be playing a HS student (19), he's pulling it off) and completely burnt out by the Idol life and commits suicide, coincidentally on the same night that Im Sol runs into him when her wheelchair battery dies on her way home from (trying to get into) his concert. She's devastated, as she's a total stan (but not in a creepy way). She'd previously bought his watch, which is somehow magical(?) and winds up going back in time to when they were both still in high school. 

It's also back before her accident, hence, I imagine, the English version of the title. She thinks it's a dream at first and runs right to Sun-jae and hugs him (in the middle of a hidden swim meet), completely surprising him. You find out at the end of episode 2 that he, who also happens to be her neighbour, actually had a crush on her (though, originally at the time, she had no idea who he was and she was crushing on some bad boy band member named Kim Tae-Sung (Song Geon-Hee). She's so far beyond him after being in her 30s that she barely remembers who he is though in this timeline/the past, she'd literally confessed to him the day before.

I feel like I'm trying to cram a lot of information in her and am not totally making sense or structuring this well, but, ah, well. 

Anyway, she spends most of the 2nd episode trying to figure out how to protect him--now and in the future. She realises that the next swim meet he has is the one that was his last when he completely ruined his shoulder. She's doing everything she can to get him to not compete, but, to be fair to teenage him, she is acting a bit like a crazy person. Honestly, if he hadn't already noticed her and been crushing on her, he probably would have called the police by now for harassment.

That's about where we're at after 2 episodes, but I am really enjoying it and if it doesn't have a happy ending, I am going to go postal. Not really. But I'll think about it. There's at least hints that things can turn out happy--a glimpse into the present day shows a change in the crime scene when a picture of the two of them appears on the table...

Will write more after I've watched more. Still confused as to why I'm torturing myself by watching one I have to wait for, but there you go.

Everyone Loves Me

I watched the lead actor in this one (Lin Yi) in Put Your Head on My Shoulder and quite liked him in it, so when I saw he was in Everyone Loves Me, I thought I'd give it a try. It's a similar kind of set up -- enemies to lovers. But going both ways. 

So, in this one, the female lead, Yue Qian Ling (actress Zhou Ye), is a digital artist and works as an intern on an otome game while she finishes up her degree. Gu Xun (Lin Yi) is a game designer (programmer/idea guy?) who is known as an aloof dude. Qian Ling is enamored with Gu Xun, but he really has never paid any attention to her...

Which isn't totally true. They're actually in a FPS gaming group together, but there they go under the avatars "Campus Hunk" and "Sticky Dough Twist". They also even play at the same arcade and are often vying against each other for first place. Gu Xun is very interested in Sticky Dough Twist, not knowing it's Qian Ling. While gaming, she's talented, harsh, and tells it like it is. When she asks for advice on how to get her crush to like her, he gives her advice to act like a timid, weak "I need saving" kind of girl, which is nothing at all like she's like.

But she tries it. But it of course backfires because she's trying the "naive" girl shtick on HIM and he hates those kind of girls. 

Here is where I gotta say this show isn't as good as Put Your Head on My Shoulder. She's (for the first 6 episodes) trying SO hard to re-make herself into what she thinks he wants and is SO forgiving when he's a total ass to her. It's painful. And, I mean, I get why he gets annoyed at her, because anyone with a brain would be annoyed by her. But he is a total ass. As a viewer, I was getting mad at both of them--her for trying to hard to completely change herself just for a guy that treats her like garbage and him for just being a jerk.

After episode 6 I was thinking that I'd just give it up. But I thought I'd at least check some reviews to see if it improves (especially after I realised it had over 20 episodes, even if they are just 40ish minutes instead of an hour). And the couple of reviews I clicked on seemed to note the same dragging issue BUT they all said episode 7 is where it picks up. 

So I figured I'd give it another couple and watched episode 7 and 8. It does improve. Basically, she confesses as Qian Ling and he rejects her in a very public way. That FINALLY FFS snaps her out of it and she vows to have nothing else to do with him. But, in the same episode, when she's venting to her online gaming group that night, he figures out that she's Sticky Dough Twist. So now the tables have been turned. 

He's trying to apologise and explain himself and she's having none of it -- and finally acting like herself instead of a meek idiot girl.

Though I still have reservations as some of the reviews also talk about the increase in Chinese censorship and how that's led to a very lacklustre story (particular in the actual romance part). So I think I will probably continue watching it BUT I don't have super high expectations and I very very seriously doubt I'll like it more than PYHOMS. I may, honestly, just stick it out until they actually get together and then see if I want to stick around after that. It does remind me why I usually stick to the Korean stuff over the Chinese stuff, though I really would like to get better at Chinese.

Though, to be fair, I don't think it's the actors in this case--it's more the writing/plot.

Oh, and I forgot the second lead couple. The dude is one of Gu Xun's friends/co-worker and the girl is his very socially anxious assistant. I mean, it's actually painful to watch her. Other than for "plot reasons" I have no idea why he wouldn't have either fired her or reassigned her to a role where she doesn't have to talk to people. She can work if she doesn't have to actually, you know, communicate or talk to others. Things kinda essential to an executive assistant...

Lastly, I'll mention the game stuff -- I'm adjacent to programmers / otome knowledge / game design enough that I was interested in that side of the plot as well. Some of it is kinda realistic, but other bits really aren't (unless Chinese dev shops are totally different). But I think that's somewhat for the drama and office politics.

Oh. And the title is stupid. 

Edit: Hm. Ok. I've made it through episode 16 but I'm really kind of annoyed. One, they'd all be fired. They all act so inappropriately. It's like their 12 year olds, the lot of them, including some of the 'older' bosses. And he's STILL not confessed his feelings and now she's more or less back to liking him. I dunno. I'm feeling very waffle-y about it.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

This is one I'm watching with little (big) dude: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. It's interesting in that it's kind of about the hero's journey AFTER the big bad is destroyed. 

I thought we were nearing the end, as we're on episode 10, but there's 28 episodes on Crunchyroll (!) so we have a long way to go. So I might as well go ahead and start my write up! 

Frieren, an elven mage over a 1000 years old, was part of the hero's party that defeated the demon king. We don't see that part; we see the after. Being so long-lived, human lives feel like a blink to her and though she spent ten years traveling with her companions: Himmel (a human knight), Eisen (a dwarf warrior), and Heiter (a human priest/cleric), she was always rather distant. After the journey was over, she went traveling--collecting spells is her hobby. She returns many, many years later still the same but Himmel is nearing death and Heiter is quite old too. Eisen is still going, but has aged as well (middle aged dwarf?). They take kind of a last trip together to see some shooting stars and then she disappears again. Himmel dies not long after and Frieren experiences regret that she didn't connect with him more. 

So, things happen (I don't want to rehash each bit) and Heiter sort of tricks her into taking on a young girl as an apprentice (Fern) on his death bed. She was an orphan he adopted. They travel together after Heiter's death, with Fern almost being more mature than Frieren as far as waking up on time and trying to keep things on track. 

While they travel, they go on kind of mini adventures. Now, mostly, this is not a fighting show. An adventure might be trying to find a particular flower that Himmel really liked so she can cast a spell to create a field of them around a statue of him. They do also some big things too -- like returning to a demon previously sealed by the party years before and Frieren takes him out...the world of magic moved on after he was sealed and he is taken by surprise.

Interspersed in the episodes are flashbacks to the original party, and, after a while, Frieren's master, the legendary mage Flamme. Flamme lived so long ago that she's like a part of the myth of the land. Only Frieren remembers the woman behind the legend.

Part way through, Frieren decides to go to "Heaven" (which is, apparently, a real place far to the North, past the Demon King's fortress) to talk to Himmel. She finds information in an old book of Flamme's that the mage left behind for her to find. Along the way, she and Fern pick up Stark, who was the apprentice of Eisen, who is now a fairly old dwarf. 

We're up to the part where Frieren kills Aura, one of the seven sages (demons) of destruction that they had previously driven off or sealed up. Aura thinks that Frieren will be easy pickings as her mana aura is weak...but that's only because Flamme taught Frieren all those years ago to hide her true power to trick demons. When Frieren lets loose, it's practically like the northern lights. 

Now they're about to move on farther north, with, I suspect, a detour where Frieren has to get a current mage "certification" as she hasn't bothered to keep them up to date because "they change the requirements so often". 

It's an interesting thing, with Frieren being so long lived -- She's like a legend herself, but in a tiny, unassuming package. Both she and Fern are rather deadpan. Stark is more like a puppy. I'm enjoying it. I can see why it's so popular (been seeing it everywhere) as it's a side of the story we seldom get to see. It's the classic hero's journey but not at the same time. It's also about loss and found family and grief.

Will update later after more episodes or finishing it, but it's definitely a good one.

Mr. Villain's Day Off

I've only seen one episode of this one, but I'm trying to catch up, so here goes: Mr. Villain's Day Off!

Honestly, it seems pretty cute. Basically, the guy (er, no idea what his name is....hmm.) works for some evil league of evil doers from another planet that are trying to take over the world. But...on his day off, he likes nothing more than to go visit the pandas at the zoo and eat ice cream. 

He even has run ins (where he refuses to fight) with the heroes. No idea if there's going to be a larger plot or if it is really just going to be him enjoying his time off while periodically thinking, hmmm, better enjoy this before I destroy it or hey, this shop has great stuff, I'll leave it until the end...

At any rate, I liked the first episode. I think I'll use it as filler when I want a break from something I'm watching more regularly. Will update later once I've either finished or watched a chunk.

I Woke Up as a Maid in a Romance Novel and His Royal Highness is Madly in Love With Me

This is another title from that Manga Plaza website: I Woke Up as a Maid in a Romance Novel and His Royal Highness is Madly in Love With Me and it was an actual completed series, so I finished it. About half the chapters were free, maybe more, so I spent maybe £4ish on it? That seemed reasonable and the story was decent, so I'm happy with that. It was a good afternoon's diversion.

They really do seem to go for some exceptionally LOOOONNNNGGG titles, don't they? I know it's the trend, but, man. Ok, so this is isekai adjacent. Erina (the girl) is actually an editor for a romance author, Haru Yayoi. Like every author ever in one of these things, he's a procrastinator who waits around for inspiration (Dear Everyone: This is not actually how professional writers work. Okay, maybe SOME of us, but not the majority. If I waited for inspiration, I'd never finish a freaking book.). 

In his current work, there's this magical blue raspberry thing and somehow (none of this is really explained in the book, but go with it), he makes it in real life. He has her try it while she's there trying to cajole him into working (Dear Everyone: I have never ever ever had an editor show up at my house. Ever.) She does -- and somehow gets sucked into the book as a maid to the main male lead, a Duke who's also her foster brother (though why she's also a maid...I dunno. It doesn't make sense.) 

The author dude 4th walls it, appearing as a crow, and says she can get out if she eats one of the berries in the book and something about "true love's kiss." Considering the panels before had just shown him being completely stunned and shocked as she disappeared, no idea how he a) figures out how to appear to her or b) what's going on or c) how she can get out again.

What she doesn't know is that he also winds up sending his younger brother Kiito in--who appears in the story as Kit, the Crown Prince that is fated to die IF he doesn't eat one of the magic berries. The brother had never met her before, but he had seen her picture and had been told of her tragic (i.e. asshole) first love.

Anyway, things happen, they fall in love, etc. etc. but since she doesn't know that Kit is from the real world and she's in true love for the first time, and they've only managed to get one magic berry created--she gives it to him. But then he kisses her and makes her eat it and Bam! She wakes back up in her author's house. But kinda heartbroken because she thinks Kit died. Then brother comes in and Whoo-hoo, a reunion. 

There's more to it than that, but I'm not going to go into any more depth than that. Overall, I'd say it's sweet. It's a quick read at 15 chapters and the art is pretty good too. There's an awful lot about the plot that doesn't make a lot of sense (especially at the end, when they're about to be sent into another book), but it's one of those things where you just have to go with it.

Am I glad I read it? Eh, sure. It's not the best thing I ever read, but it gives you some feels and actually finishes the story. Would I read it again? Hmmmmmm. I doubt it? But maybe? The biggest issue with it is probably to do with the length. They both fell in love a little too easily and too quickly--there wasn't time to do much more. Which also made the side character stories very quick too. Well, that and the plot holes, but like I said, it's one where you just have to completely suspend disbelief and roll with it. It would actually make for a decent full length thing, but it'd require a lot more work. Anyway. As a short one shot, it was pretty good.

Eighth Time's the Charm to Get Me on the Road to Romance with the Prince Who's Supposed to Hate Me: "Just Think of Me as Decoration!"

In what is quite possibly the longest, most awkward title ever, I bring you: Eighth Time's the Charm to Get Me on the Road to Romance with the Prince Who's Supposed to Hate Me: "Just Think of Me as Decoration!"

Yeah. That's a thing.

It's actually a title that I can only find on MangaPlaza, which was founded by NTT Solmare. That said, it's a bit of a dodgy looking site--one of those where you have to unlock chapters by paying for them (in this particular book, it comes out to .78 p/each for me, as it's .99 in USD). I signed up for the free trial premium thing, though I need to remember to cancel it before the week is up. I'd actually keep it IF there were other decent titles on here, BUT it honestly looks like about 90% of it is utter rubbish or a blatant copy of another (better) title--for instance, just browsing and you can find more rip offs of My Happy Marriage than you can shake a stick at.

That said, this one is ALSO a time loop kind of one similar to a lot of other titles (like Doctor Elise or 7th Time Loop, etc, etc.) and I can't say that there's anything groundbreaking in it.

So, Fiona is sent off to marry a foreign prince as basically a hostage. She's not surprised. This is the 8th time, after all. In every other life she's been killed. Sometimes she goes along with the marriage and gets killed after being falsely accused of spying or being bullied by the woman who becomes queen (apparently, he can marry as many as he wants, but all the rest are called 'concubines' and only one can be queen) and other times she tries to run with one of the knights who support her and gets caught and dies.

This time, the only difference to begin with is that she takes her dog Dolph with her. But he reveals on the journey (when her carriage is attacked on the way...through orders of her husband-to-be) that he's actually a divine beast (who only exist in her country?) and he protects her. He also gives her a magical power (ice related) and the ability to converse with him telepathically even when he's in "puppy" form. 

Her goal is just to avoid her new husband at all costs and when he flat out tells her he'll never love her, but will leave her alone in her new apartments, she's, basically, like, Yay! Sounds good! Which takes him a bit aback.

Perhaps it's the influence of Dolph, but she stretches her wings a bit this time and winds up helping some orphans and making a friend of her maid (who had spied on her in a previous life). The prince can't help but notice and when she calls the people of his country "her" people too, he's stunned. He starts to spend more time with her and comes to appreciate the good things she's doing. He's not sure what to think. 

Meanwhile, the other woman who normally becomes queen is a right bitch and keeps annoying him, while Fiona gives wise council and is both gentle and just good. So he's falling in love and even goes so far as to cancel the engagement with the other lady, which sets her off. He actually even tells Fiona he wants her to be his queen. She's completely stunned. Though he'd been kind to her for the first time, she still thought he hated her. Unlike 7th time loop, Fiona has been married to this guy multiple times and she always dies; it's not like Rishe where her death was caused by his action (war) but she'd never actually had a relationship with him before beyond being a knight he killed.

Meanwhile, one of her knights has arrived and wants Fiona to run off with him, but she refuses (she's tried that before and it never goes well)...but the evil bitch sees him and concocts a plan...

And that's where I'm at.

It is fairly typical, but I'm enjoying it. I unlocked some of it with free points and bought a few chapters (there are 11 out total). No idea how often they release though, so I'll cancel the subscription before it charges me. Actually, just did, so I wouldn't forget. Partly posting this so I remember to go back and check for updates. I don't mind buying the one.

Yes, No, or Maybe?

I am so pissed off at this one. I can't even. It's a movie, rather than a show and I watched it with little/big dude -- until we got to the end and had to turn it off. But, let's start over. Yes, No, or Maybe? is a BL title. 

I've forgotten their names and I'm not going to look it up because it really did piss me off, but here goes: The one on the left is a tsundere type...kind of. He's a news broadcaster/presenter and he's on his absolute best behaviour at work and acts like a paragon of virtue. But, at home, he's a total slob and grouchy as all hell. The dude on the right is an artist/animator that first guy has to interview. He's openly bisexual whereas first dude apparently isn't before this. He's a nice guy.

Anyway, through reasons, they run into each other again when first dude is in his "downtime" mode and wearing a mask with messy hair and sloppy clothes. Through more reasons, he winds up helping out second dude and starts spending time at his place, even though all of it is in a very much "he doth protest too much" kind of way. 

Meanwhile, they also somewhat run into each other when he's in "nice" mode too. Second dude is kind of interested in both sides and, for some reason, does not realise they are the same dude. To be fair, he even talks in a different manner and never takes his mask off. 

First dude is obviously starting to crush on artist dude too, but he's too stubborn and too much of an ass to ever admit to anything. So, yadda yadda yadda, things happen and artist dude finally figures out that both the guys he likes are the same guy and first guy finally is honest to himself and goes to artist dude.

Ok, so all of that is well and good. Though the first dude is really quite an annoying asshole when he's in downtime mode--I mean, porcupines are less prickly--it was actually ok up to this point. The artist dude kind of made up for it because he was so even keeled and basically nice. A good guy.

Then they had to pull the BL forced relations trope nonsense at the very end and ruined it. Nice dude goes right from kissing the guy to immediately sexually assaulting him. It went from 0 to 100% in, like, two seconds AND it was so completely off brand for the character. This is not sexy. It is not good writing. It is absolute rubbishy shit and it ruined the whole thing.

So, am I glad I watched it? Nope. Would I watch it again? Hell to the no. We turned it off when the shitshow started and just looked at each other. WTF. I HATE it when they do crap like that. What is WRONG with them?? So, yeah, totally do not recommend this one unless you basically turn it off immediately after they confess to each other and pretend that's the end.

Castaway Diva

Since I'm trying to catch up, I'm going to very briefly mention this one that I decided not to continue on with: The Castaway Diva. Don't get me wrong, I actually fairly liked the first episode even though it was a LOT darker than I thought it was going to be. It starts in the teenage years of the main leads and both have miserable lives because their fathers are raging assholes who beat them. They weren't even friends to begin with as the dude thought the girl was happy and had everything...until he saw her bruises after she's brave enough to call the police on her alcoholic dad. His dad is a police officer, however, and basically does nothing and blames it on her. The other police offers should've been shot.

Anyway, while they are trying to run off together (she won a competition with her singing and has a chance at stardom) to get away, he sees that her dad is following them and gets off the ferry to try and stop him. He gets beat to a pulp and the dad still manages to get on the boat where he chases her...then they both fall of the boat, never to be seen again...

They actually both wash up on an island, just not one that's within the target search area. But the dad is dead. The girl manages to survive for 10 years off of what washes up on the island (this part was pretty unbelieveable--how many perfectly intact umbrellas wash up on shore or cutlery??)

Anyway, 10 years later she's rescued when a clean up crew is on the island to pick up trash. Why? Dunno. It's uninhabited, supposedly. And there were two brothers(?) and it's pretty obvious that ONE of them is supposed to be the same dude. RIDICULOUS COINCIDENCE. But the one that LOOKS like him, with the glasses and everything...totally doesn't act like him.

I was very suspicious. 

I was right to be suspicious. 

Some other things were bothering me too, so I looked up some summaries and a) the one who acted completely oblivious (when he should have honestly been the only one to immediately figure out who she was--she was even wearing the same freaking shirt) was the original dude and b) they tease the other brother as "the" guy for over half the show, even making both of them think it might be true (because the other brother has amnesia or something?? I didn't read too closely, but none of it made sense) and c) apparently there's a bunch of stuff that the original diva that she won the contest for is a waning star and she castaway girl winds up singing for her behind the scenes or something. Bleh. And d) it's another show where instead of being a show about, you know, the freaking title character, it instead becomes a big issue show about the dude's family trauma. Totally looking at you, Gong Shim.

It was just so much wtf-ery that I noped out after an episode and a half. And it has actors I liked too (like the actress from Attorney Woo) but whenever I get really dodgy feelings like that, I'm often right. And I just don't have time to sit through 12 or 16 or whatever episodes of that. Like Nevertheless. That one skeeved me out too. Not that this one skeeved me, but all of the spoilers I read just royally peeved me. So it's immeditely going on my ditch list even though I was excited about it.

The War God's Favorite (Dragon Empire Saga)

Ok, so I don't talk about books much on here, which is probably odd as I'm an author. But there's a few reasons for that -- I honestly don't do nearly as much reading for pleasure as I used to. I read a lot for research. The bit of pleasure reading I tend to do lately is either manga (which I sometimes write up here) or are re-reads of some of my favourite books. Comfort reads, if you will. And it's not like people read this; it's just for me. Very unofficial. I've got no reason to write up re-reads.

And, for some reason, even though I have NEVER indicated any interest in werewolf smut or dinosaur porn books (except to maybe make fun of them ages ago the first time I came across the very unlikely pairing of a randy tyrannosaur and a barely dressed ingenue when a friend was like WTF is this--which was very much my reaction), Facebook insists on inundating me with ads about them and for self-pubbed stuff in general. And for kinda dodgy book apps, though that could very well be related to my slight obsession with otome/visual novels. Which, let's face it, very much vary in quality. When I get really frustrated, I go through and Hide all the ads and they stop for a while and then come back. 

Anyway, that's a very long preamble to say that recently either Instagram or Facebook one presented me with an excerpt of this book--with a prince that's a dragon rider and a slave girl that his dragon takes a liking to when it's supposed to eat her. The War God's Favorite by Jenny Fox. The writing wasn't bad in the brief sample (unlike 95% of what it's usually showing me), so I clicked through and read the free sample bit (it probably helped that I was procrastinating and avoiding my own writing because I am at the point in this book where I. Am. Just. Over. It.). It was on some app (I forget which one) and it was one of those things where you pay to unlock every chapter. It was decent and diverting and the world building was surprisingly interesting, BUT, yeah, it wasn't good enough that I was gonna spend a bunch of money to unlock the book. I didn't add it up, but it'd be tons. 

But, curious enough, I checked to see if it was on Amazon and it was -- and you could get the Kindle version for less than £3. The paperback is, like, 20 something, which is ridiculous. So I went ahead and bought the Kindle one and have just been reading it via the web version since I don't have an actual Kindle.

I'm not gonna say anything about the cover beyond that it's both awful and typical and makes me glad I just have the virtual version of the book.

I'd say I'm about half way through it now. It's freaking long--too long, honestly, and it really could have used an editor's touch--but it's generally an enjoyable read. I'm not going to rehash the full plot, but I will talk about a few things as it's probably the best self pubbed thing I've seen and it has a lot of promise. 

• It has sex. A lot of sex. You kinda get the sense that the author would think, hey, it's been like ten pages since they last got it on. Better fix that. It's not terribly done BUT some of it definitely could have been cut, which would have improved pacing and the length and the repetitiousness of it. But, fair enough, I imagine it's what most of the readers are reading for.
• There's quite a bit of repetition and stock phrases that get used so often that it's a bit annoying. A professional editor would have helped a lot. I mean, maybe she hired someone. I dunno. But if she did, they didn't do their job. And, seriously, I have read "pink extremities" (i.e. nipples) WAY too many times. Enough already. His rod. Her trembling. 
• It's a fantasy world--high fantasy at that-- but the dialogue slips into too modern phraseology enough that it's awkward and off putting. It's especially obvious when the characters are trying to be edgy and swear and show how badass they are. 
• It's a wish fulfilment read. That's not necessarily a bad thing. You want that kind of read sometimes. But, honestly, it's actually a bit ridiculous that the male lead is essentially: "oh my dragon didn't eat that one, I guess I'll keep her" and goes right into a completely monogamous relationship where he's devoted to her completely. And the family, including the Emperor, all like her except for the other princes that are competing with him. I mean, I like that on a personal level, but there's a lot about the actual story that doesn't actually make sense logically for the world. Rather than what would likely happen, it's what you want to happen.
• That said, the actual world building is pretty decent. Like, some actual thought went into it. And it's not all info dumped in the beginning, which so many inexperienced writers do. She's worked it in reasonably.
• There's too much head hopping and it's not done well or seamlessly. The transitions between scenes are also often not done well and you're suddenly in someone else's head or in a different location and have to figure out what happened. Even scene markers would have helped. I mean, I get it that it's very tempting to head hop and get that little shot of a character's POV, but it's just not done well--sometimes it's literally just a sentence or two and then boom, back to the main character. It's probably the weakest bit of writing and a fair bit of it leads to the next point...
• There's way too much telling instead of showing. A lot of scenes could be fixed SO EASILY that it's kinda making me sad. The potential is there. This is a decent book and a guilty pleasure type of read, BUT it could have been a really good book.

I looked briefly and it appears that she's written quite a few books, mostly web novels and many of them have a lot of reviews. She posts on Patreon and Dreame (?) and is on Ko-fi. She's French but lives in London now. No idea how successful she actually is at the self pub thing. But, man, it makes me feel like if I could bring myself to write ALL THE SEX scenes I'd do okay. Though I honestly don't know that I'll really ever mess with self publishing. Not at this point. I mean, I did just fire my agent, but...meh. 

Anyway, I'll try and remember to update this after I finish it and see how I feel.

Doctor Elise or The Royal Lady with the Lamp

Today we have here a prime example of why I shouldn't look up information on shows that I enjoyed. I randomly watched Dr. Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp on Crunchyroll and didn't even read comments or anything. It's a combo isekai / time loop time of thing. Basically, we meet the MC when she's a successful surgeon in the modern day world. But it turns out she's that way because she was an evil villainess in her first life and was even burned at the stake. So, apparently, really bad. But in this life she's like a paragon of virtue to make up for it.

Then...on her way to perform a lifesaving operation in another country, her plane crashes. She awakens after the crash, apparently ok, and manages to treat a bunch of fellow passengers before a quick pan down reveals she's bleeding out. She dies as rescuers arrive regretting that she wasn't able to save more people.

Then she wakes up back in her old life, but ten years before, right before her engagement to the prince is supposed to be announced. Her first time around, she married him and (it's very very very unclear what she actually did--later on, there's flashbacks of "bad" deeds, but all they amount to is bullying BUT she was supposed to have been responsible for the deaths of her family and other stuff and gets burned at the stake by her husband...so who knows WTF she actually did). She definitely remembers that, as much as she loved the prince and was totally spoiled, he never loved her and just married her because his father wanted it.

So, new life. Second time around. At a luncheon with the king (prince's dad), she first drops some political knowledge on him that may help save a lot of lives AND diagnoses his medical condition (king died in her first life of complications of diabetes) AND tells the king (with the prince there) that she doesn't want to marry the prince and wants to become a Doctor instead. He makes a wager with her that if she can pass the Dr. exam in 6 months that he'll let her out of the engagement.

She goes off to apprentice to a Dr Graham (of the sexy grey hair) who at first thinks she's just some dilletante court lady (though she calls herself Rose, so he doesn't realise exactly how high up she is) and will run off when he assigns her to the hopeless ward. Of course, she sets right to work, cleans everything, and even performs a surgery (a debridement) on her first day. Anyway, she continues to impress.

Meanwhile, the King's advisor for some reason really wants her as the next empress and convinces the king to sort of half announce but not officially that she's the crown princess even though the king promises her the wager isn't off. And the Prince who I have somehow managed to forget the name of already uses a magical disguise as blonde haired Lord Ron to check out what she's up to. But his guard gets shot...

Okay, this is where I feel like I should address one of the valid criticisms of the book/manga/anime. It's an alternate world, BUT it doesn't feel like the author has any concept of history or when things fit together. There's questionable knowledge about germs...but they have x-rays. There's guns and knights (which, yes, there is some overlap of that in the real world). They know what diabetes is, but then there's other things they don't know that they should. It's all over the place. So, yes, valid.

...and she of course saves him with a miraculous operation that has never been done before (removing his spleen) in the history of this world.

There are some bits where Lord Ron finds more and more excuses to spend some time with her and she's not at all like he expected (she is, after all, kind of a different person due to having lived 30ish years in another life). Meanwhile, she's determined to have as little to do with the prince as possible.

Anyway, she continues to save people left and right. She makes friends with political enemies. She passes the exam, even though the king instructed it should be made harder than ever before--she's literally the only one who passes it. And the story kind of ends there in the anime. She's happy to be saving lives, she technically passed the wager, but says she still needs to prove herself; the exam was just a first step, and the prince is on his way to really loving her. So a lot of things were unresolved, making it feel like, maybe, the first character arc was complete and that's about it.

So then I looked it up because I was interested to see if the source material completes the story. And a billion people were bitching about the anachronisms (yeah, okay), that she was a Mary Sue (I don't totally agree, but I can see why they say it), and that the isekai/time loop stuff wasn't well done but it was an early one so there's some excuses. I dunno. I didn't think that stuff was awful. They also complain about the male lead, but, again, I'm not sure why. He seemed okay to me. 

I did find it on a website and have read some of it (not from the beginning) and I do see some differences--like a scene where a secondary character got sick, it was actually her getting sick. And there's a whole war thing that's not in the anime where she goes off to be a war doctor (so presumably after her exam). And...I don't get the hate for it. 

Like, I enjoyed the anime. I wouldn't have said it was groundbreaking (though apparently since it's old, it was sort of when it was released) but I have seen MUCH worse that do less. The art was fine too. Is it just one of those that people love to hate on for some reason? I dunno.

At any rate, I mostly enjoyed it and will probably finish reading it.

Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside

I didn't have super high hopes for this one, as it looked like, basically, all the other animes with this type of title: Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside. BUT! There's no harem! The main lead and his lady love actually have a decent, relatively mature romance! There's some good world building! The Hero also doesn't want to be forced to be a hero!

So, basically, the (kinda evil and/or stupid) deity in this world gives everyone "Blessings" -- which are sort of like guides for their life. You might be a Weaponmaster or an Assassin or, in the case of poor Ruti, the Hero with a capital H. Gideon (our protagonist) is her older brother and Guide. It's basically his job to help her on her hero's journey to kill the Demon King. 

Incidentally, why is it always a Demon King?

Anyway, Ares, the Sage and the biggest wanker I've ever seen in an anime, banishes Gideon from the hero's party by convincing him that he's putting his sister in danger. Gideon changes his name to Red and moves to the part of the world where people go when they don't want to be found. Not even the Demon Lord would bother coming here. He sets up as an apothecary and carries a "D" rank in the Adventurer's Guild even though he's far more capable than pretty much everyone else in town.

Except for Rit, who's actually a princess from Loggervia, who had briefly traveled with the Hero's party some time ago and had a serious crush on Gideon. When she figures out he's there, she immediately gloms onto her second chance (she was a bit tsundere around him before) and moves in with him. 

Here's the refreshing part -- they actually have a good relationship and while there's some blushy bits, it also actually progresses and they are relatively mature about it and realistic. AND THERE'S NO HAREM. Everyone but her kind of underestimates him, but he likes it that way.

Of course, there's stuff going on and the scenes of Gideon are interspersed with what's going on with his sister. She's got a truly tragic life trajectory going on -- her Hero Blessing precludes her from sleeping, enjoying food, experiencing different temperatures--basically, living. And she misses her brother -- BUT NOT IN A CREEPY WAY -- because the last time she really felt things was when she was young and he's her only tie to that.

There's demon blots, betrayal, people searching for each other, and also bits of Slow Life in between. 

It's really good and I'm so happy that it had none of the bad. I mean, Rit could have done with a boob reduction and why anyone would wear clothes with holes in them in the snow while literally complaining about how cold it is, I dunno, but other than that, I can't really fault anything. Okay, maybe that they take a lot of baths and there's some clothes rending--all "okay" because they magically have no nipples. Like, no one does. It's a little weird, mostly because the boobs are just SO THERE.

Tisse, the assassin that's brought in to replace Gideon, was also a joy because she becomes Ruti's first actual friend (and not just a party member) PLUS she has an adorable spider pet called Mister Crawly Wawly. With the Mister as part of his name. 

There's also humour too. Just a really good anime. There's also a second season, but I'm debating about saving it for a while before I watch it. I kind of went fast through season one.

So, am I glad I watched it? Definitey. Would I watch it again? Hm, very possibly, though I'd take a break in between. I will definitely watch Season 2 at some point as well. 

And would I one punch Ares? Yes, yes, I totally would.

Ready, Set, Love

I have watched very, very little Thai dramas/shows because every time I start one, they just have killed me with the overacting, similar to Taiwanese stuff. I started Ready, Set, Love, not realising it was a Thai show (though, obviously, it took seconds to figure that out once it started) and because the premise sounded different enough to be appealing. Even though there's definitely some "larger than life" acting in this one too, it's at manageable levels and I stuck through it. 

I'd also hit the part of King the Land that's annoying and I thought Ready, Set, Love looked like it would be enjoyable fluff. And it was generally enjoyable and I was pleasantly surprised by the not-fluff aspects of it.

In a dystopian future, male births account for less than 1%. The Thai government (no mention of what's going on in the rest of the world after the pandemic that killed off so many dudes) now has the state sponsored "Farm" where all boys/men are supposed to go and lead pampered, cushy lives (albeit ones where they have little control over their lives). A periodic competition is held -- kind of a hunger games for picking wives for them. This is all very nonsensical as, while I can see the Farm thing happening, the most likely thing would be men would be relegated to being sperm donors or studs and there wouldn't be a monogamous marriage concept any more. 

Anyway, the women who compete are usually (of course) chosen from the elite and rich. But this year they've introduced a lottery system so that the "common woman" can have a chance. Of course, they aren't actually supposed to have a real chance. It's for ratings and to keep the masses down. Day, our heroine, winds up with a winning lotto ticket courtesy of her younger sister. She's actually got no interest in it, but her younger sister is deathly ill and when told that the winner would also have access to really good medical care for their whole family...she decides to stay.

Complicating matters is that one of the contestants is Son (the dude in red), who had, as a young child, briefly escaped from the Farm and was 'saved' by Day when she was young. Yeah, childhood friends trope. They have matching halves of a necklace. It's kind of a ridiculous set up, but, hey, let's go with it. Because he is at first completely put off by her over the top awkwardness and enthusiasm until he sees her wearing the necklace that he has the other half of. 

The other equally oddly named Gentleman are Jin (who we barely see and is basically comic relief), Paper (who at first seems like the happy go lucky type but then they manage to give him depth and LGBTQ leanings as he falls in love with a guy who lives outside the Farm), Max (the sexy type who somehow immediately falls in love with the girl--Chanel--who's supposed to be intended for Son in the fixed game and is actually very loyal and decent enough, even if he does constantly take his shirt off), and finally Almond (who takes an immediate liking to Day and is also -- coincidence!!--the brother of Day's friend Valentine, who is a member of the underground resistance called City Ground who want to shed light on the fact that the government steals boys away from their families and incarcerates any women who dare to not go along with it. Whew.

There's actually a lot going on here. So it isn't just a cute "reality style" matchmaking show, there's some political, far-reaching stuff and questions about free will and what doing the right thing is. There's also Chanel, who doesn't love Son, but has been trying to be a dutiful daughter (her mom is, essentially, the big bad), the producer of the show who just found out she's pregnant with a son (which means that he'll be taken from her), and Bovy, Chanel's best friend who acts like she's in love with Max (and is supposed to be slated for him) but is really probably just in love with Chanel. 

Like I said, Whew. 

They end the season with a cliffhanger that obviously sets it up for a season 2 (Son and Day and Paper get away and there's a glimpse of Son and Day four years later, with a son of their own, living outside the cities in a place run by City Ground and then Evil Mom gets notified that they've been found, along with a picture of an older guy in a hoodie, who I'd have to guess is likely Son's dad? Who maybe she was in love with from way before? 'Cause she doesn't love her husband (Chanel's dad, who seems a decent, if ineffectual, guy). 

I did surprisingly quite enjoy this one. There are definitely REALLY ridiculous moments but it had WAY more depth than I thought it would. I was actually quite sad about Almond, who chose to stay back at the Farm when he could have run. I think part of that was unrequited love--he really did like Day and they did actually have great chemistry together and got along well. If Son hadn't had that childhood connection, there was literally no reason why Day and Almond wouldn't have wound up together. That said, Son and Day were nice together too. But Almond was definitely a Second Lead Syndrome kind of character. 

I thought it was interesting that Day did NOT, in fact, win the show, even though she tried her hardest. Chanel, the favourite, did, BUT Chanel grew a backbone at the last moment and picked Max (who she'd been trying to deny her attraction to the entire show), even though everyone thought she would go for Son and her mom was demanding it. If Chanel hadn't done that, then...who knows what would have happened. 

So, am I glad I watched it? Yeah. Would I watch it again? Probably not, but who knows. Would I watch the second season if there is one? Yeah, probably I would. Some of the actors were better than others, but the general quality of it was good (overact-y style not withstanding). I really didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

Sasaki and Miyano

This is one little dude started watching without me, so I started...and then passed him up. I've finished it now. Sasaki and Miyano is a BL anime and, quite simply, charming and very conciously does NOT contain any of the horrible almost-ever-present bad tropes that you see in a lot of BL shows/manga.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and may even buy the manga too, as I'm sure there's stuff they didn't wind up animating. But, let me start over.

So, Miyano (the short, dark haired one), is a not-very closeted fudanshi. That said, the only time he's ever crushed on anyone (back in middle school), it was a girl. Sasaki has also never been attracted to a guy before -- until he meets Miyano. Strangely enough, Sasaki realises much more quickly how attracted he is to Miyano as they start spending more time together (and he borrows BL manga from him, something he has never read before). And, to his credit, he's not too weirded out by it--it's more of a oh, wow, I need to chill, I don't want to freak him out.  He winds up confessing pretty early on (episode 5, though it's pretty clear even to himself by episode 2 that he's smitten). 

BUT. Even though he bungles the confession a little, he's also very open about how he's willing to wait for a response. And wait he does. It takes Miyano, like, over half a year before he finally gets ahold of his feelings and confesses in return. Maybe more. Basically, the majority of the show is Miyano trying to figure out what he feels and Sasaki trying very hard (and doing well) not to be pushy and just be a good friend, if that's all Miyano wants. 

Seriously, find yourself a guy like Sasaki. He's a good dude. Even the times he's berating himself for slipping up, he doesn't really. He always stops himself and is so conscious of not pushing.

It was interesting that they flipped that, because you'd think that Miyano with his BL fixation would be the one to lead the way rather than the guy who's never even thought about it. 

The friends / side characters are also great with their own little stories and ways of helping out (or deflecting). There's even a one hour long "graduation" special where you get a bit more about Hirano and some of the others, see Sasaki and Miyano coming out a bit to their friends and family without any major hiccups. 

All in all, a really great feel good series and by far the least problematic BL thing I've ever seen. I hope that's a trend that will catch on. Some of the older shows (totally looking at you World's Greatest Love Story which should actually be re-named If Your Partner Does ANY of This, Run) is just really, really full of horrible stuff.

Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me

Welp, this one kinda threw me for a loop. I thought it was going to be kinda typical first romance (geeky boy + popular girl) thing. And it sort of is. But...Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me has a couple of surprises.

Ryuto Kashima is the classic every-boy geek/nerd. Character design-wise, he looks like about 50 other dudes. Can't even name them all. He's got two other nerd friends, one of which is the chubby one and the VA does the "fat voice" which I have to admit I kinda hate. Anyway. They aren't the nicest of friends; when Ryuto does better than them in the exams, they basically give him a dare: confess his feelings to the girl he likes.

Of course he likes Runa Shirakawa, one of the most popular girls in school. She's always cheerful and has been through a lot of boyfriends (more on that in a minute...). She's also pretty and a bit of a gyaru (character design-wise, she's like a knock off Marin from My Dress Up Darling). So, he confesses to her, fully expecting to be rejected. He's just hoping it will be gentle. But, she's not currently dating anyone and, to his utter astonishment, agrees to go out with him. He's like, WHY? You didn't even know who I was five minutes ago? She believes that the only way to find out if you like someone is to try and date them.

Erm, so, okay, she immediately invites him over to her house. Brings some barley tea. And then basically starts undressing, thinking he must want to sleep with her. Apparently, she thinks that's what she's supposed to do. So, yeah. This girl, who has dated LOTS of guys has apparently been IMMEDIATELY sleeping with them. I mean, she's "known him" all of 30 minutes at this point.

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying and tragic.

I was kinda tempted to turn it off, honestly. But he turns her down, even though he's tempted (he's a teenage boy...but obviously the only decent one she's ever known). 

After that rocky start, things improve and it's more about them slowly learning about each other. I actually went on to watch three episodes (to give it the "three strikes" go) and it's improved since then. They've introduced Ryuoto's first crush, recently returned, and sadly I accidentally got spoiled for next episode's plot twist when I went to find a picture and look up names to write this up. Apparently (I've said that a LOT this time around), the girl is Runa's fraternal twin sister?? But they haven't lived together?? And she was the one spreading rumours about Runa because she's jealous? FFS.

Anyway. Their first date(s) were darling and Ryoto is a green flag of a boy, so I do think I'll keep watching it in the hopes that Runa realises / grows because, so far, her life (notwithstanding her popularity) is really kinda horrible. And sad. Because you know there are real girls like this out there.

Edit: Ok, I finished it (it was the only one I was watching that's finished...the rest I am waiting on the next episodes to hit). Overall I mostly liked it though it was both better and worse than I thought it would be. The stuff with the sister/twin was almost entirely annoying. The whole bit about her wanting to break up with him even though she didn't WANT to break up with him was also on the annoying side. Believable, yeah, probably, given who she was and her experience with relationships so far (basically, as soon as things got a little tough, break it off instead of working on it). I mean, I get it...they are 17. But at that point, the poor dude is cutting out other people because he doesn't want to do anything that would make her jealous and, yo, dude, that's actually not healthy for you to be saying "it's ok if I don't have any other female friends; she's all I need." 

Then there was the bit with the fat friend who gets skinny via depression after getting turned down and then the girl all of a sudden wants him when he wasn't good enough before and she'd ripped him a new one for even deigning to ask her out. Oof. And the one "demon gyaru" friend who pledges to wait for the one dude even though he's dumped her twice (once so he could literally fool around with other girls after he took her advice and improved on his looks...and they'd actually only dated the first time for TWO WEEKS back in MIDDLE SCHOOL) and...what, are they trying to be the poster child for what relationships should NOT be like? 

Hmmm. Yeah. Okay, I liked Ryoto. Not really sure about the rest. I probably need to go watch something with middle aged people now. Am I glad I watched it? Eh, 50/50. Would I watch it again? Nah, I doubt it. I am always easier on flaws the first time around. A second time and I just get more pissed off. There were a few nice true moments (like when she has regrets about not being able to experience a lot of "firsts" with him and he has a great response) but there were also a lot of frustrating things...at least for an old fart like me.

King the Land

There was a lot of talk about this one when it came out, not all of it good (apparently there's an Arab character later on and it's done very badly), but the clips I'd seen (none of which have that character) seemed pretty good, so I thought I'd try it. Also have now realised that King the Land has Lee Joon-Ho aka Junho (from 2PM) as the lead (Gu Won) and I've been wanting to see him in something else since Wok of Love. The bromance in that show was WAY better than the romance and I really liked him in it, so it's nice to see him in something.

It's been awhile since I watched a chaebol type drama too, so that didn't hold me back. They drive me crazy sometimes, but it's been enough time that I think I can handle one. I've watched three episodes so far and am enjoying it. 

Anyway -- the story. Gu Won is the son in a chaebol family with an older sister who seems very back-stabby and works hard to keep him away from Dear Daddy. There's some mystery about Gu Won's mother as well--he seems to be trying to work out who she was? Or something. It's not been super clear on that, but obviously they must have different mothers. And he's so persistent about it that I honestly don't understand why the dad or half-sister doesn't just tell him what's up. You'd think the sister would just to get rid of him when he's been clear that he's not there for the company (though, honestly, isn't he? At least partly? Maybe not. Three episodes in and I haven't actually seen him do any work as far as I can tell). Anyway, she seems like a total bitch and very two faced. Dad is the standard chaebol dad: All Duty, No Love.

Our female lead is Cheon Sa-Rang played by Lim Yoon-A aka Yoona from Girl's Generation. I know who she is but haven't really watched much with her in it. Sa-Rang is from a much humbler background and also has some type of mom thing (probably dead?). She's always wanted to work at a hotel and has good memories of going to a King hotel with her mom when she was young. Strangely enough, it's evil big sis that hires her and keeps promoting her, seeing Sa-Rang's go-get-'em attitude and hard work. 

Ok. So, Gu Won got some kind of hint about his mother, which is why he's back in Korea (he's been living in the UK for the last 7ish years and got his MBA, etc. So he and Sa-Rang keep running into each other and, ya know, hijinks ensue. Oh, and Sa-Rang has a rubbish boyfriend currently that I'm sure she's about to split up with...

What I like so far -- Go Won has actually already started to realise he's got a bit of a crush, which is refreshingly early for a show like this. And I'm happy to see Junho in something. Also like that Sa-Rang's two best girl friends seem to have storylines of their own with a decent amount of time devoted to them. Oh, and so far the chaebol inheritance stuff has been relatively minor in the plot. I'm sure it'll increase, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

Don't like the sister, though I'm not supposed to. Though it has been interesting to see the contrast between how she's helped Sa-Rang and the way she treats her brother, presumably because she sees him as a threat. I don't really get it. They've got more money than any one person can possibly use. Why squabble and backstab over it? Be a family FFS.

Will report back either at the end or in the middle, but so far so good.

Edit: Ok, so I'm about halfway through. Hit the bit with the Arab prince. The initial episode with him wasn't TOO bad though he is over the top compared to any Muslim I've ever met (and he drinks alcohol). They mostly seem like old school friends that rag on each other (him and the dude), though can't say I love the dynamic. I am guessing the next episode will be the one that really stretches things out of whack, but we'll see. 

As for the romance part, I do always like the shows where the guy realises the attraction first. And this definitely has that. 

Edit: Ok....through the episodes with the Arab prince and they weren't as bad as I feared they would be. Yes, off that he drinks alcohol and Go Won talks about him being a womanizer and "dating lots of girls" and multiple marriages, but nothing the character actually does is that terrible. He proposes and graciously accepts it when she turns him down. Mostly, they just played as two friends that tease each other all the time. 

Other than that, I am finding the show to be in the middle of slow-paced-ness, but things are slowly moving along. I partly haven't watched many more because of an exercise timing thing. When husband is home, I only get 45 minutes to exercise at the gym, so I've been doing either the one Chinese show that's around that or watch anime instead.

Sasaki and Peeps

Sasaki and Peeps is an oddball one. It's sort of an isekai and sort of not. So, there's a middle aged salaryman living a dull life. He'd love to get a cat or a dog, but he can't afford one. But one day he stops off in a pet store and buys a java sparrow. But...it's not really a java sparrow. It's a wizard/magician/something from another world that was transported/reborn/whatever into Sasaki's world. In exchange for assistance, "Peeps" (who's real name is, like, Piancarlo?) gives some of his magical power to Sasaki. And thus, they embark on a partnership.

Perhaps the strangest thing about this one is how much happens in the first episode (which is a whopping 45ish minutes). Traveling back and forth between Peep's world and Sasaki's, they set up trade (real world goods into this fantasy world, which deals in gold coins), open a restaurant, get in with a local lord, Sasaki learns some magic, and then Sasaki saves a woman from a strange attacker by shooting an icicle ... but it's not an ordinary damsel in distress, it's Hoshizaki, an agent in some paranormal government monitoring bureau and she immediately recruits him (he's not given a choice). Oh, and there's a next door neighbour teenage girl that might possibly have a crush on him (but, at least so far, he thankfully seems oblivious).

Whew.

That was a lot. I mean, that's like an entire SEASON worth of things to happen. I haven't even seen another episode yet. 

Anyway, things that I liked so far -- Sasaki actually seems like a middle aged man. Peeps, though a powerful magician or whatever, does actually seem to view it as a partnership and Sasaki as an equal and it isn't that thing where he is constantly insulting the MC. The set up seems interesting. Sasaki's preoccupation with having a comfortable bed and decent food is realistic.

I'm not at all sure about the teenage girl or the woman/girl agent as yet. Little bit worried about those elements.

But, overall an interesting first episode jam packed with stuff.