Summer 2026 Reviewed

Last time, I said I was going to watch three shows this season and I ended up watching five. It was almost six, but we'll get to that. I also added a new section this time around. Neat, huh?

Completed Seasonals

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You: I really liked this one! It got a little less good as it went on, but only a little. It's partly because I'm not super fond of the will they won't they romance trope, but also because the guy is like 40 and the girl is 24 apparently? It's not like that's highly morally objectionable or anything, I'm not some troglodyte who still uses Twitter and thinks any age gap is grooming, but that particular age gap has a connotation (at least in the US) that kinda raised my eyebrows a little. Also, I felt like I'd rather have their ages be closer just as a personal preference. In fact, I originally thought they were both in their 30's. It's also very much a fluff show. Regardless, it was lots of fluffy fun.

You and I are Polar Opposites S2: I was really looking forward to this one because I loved the first season. I feel like I liked it slightly less than the first season, but it's still peak. I'm pretty sure the show has ended for good as well, so it doesn't have an opportunity to go on forever and get terrible. An adorable, funny show.

The Ghost in the Shell: I was super excited for this. Science Saru? Doing a more direct adaptation of the original manga, which I haven't read, but must be good if interest has lasted this long? Sign me the fuck up! The show did not disappoint. The animation, art, everything on this one was just gorgeous. It's also funny that people are saying this is a welcome fresh take on the franchise when it was supposed to be a direct adaptation. Again, haven't read it, so I don't know how true that is. The only real problem I have with this show is that it very quickly throws a lot of scifi concepts at you, which can get confusing, but I think that's a problem it inherited from its source material. If you only watch one piece of Ghost in the Shell media, what's wrong with you? You also have to watch the 1995 movie and Stand Alone Complex, all three are amazing.

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia: A second Science Saru show? In my anime season? It's more likely than you think! I picked this one up because I saw it had a really high MAL score and realized who was making it. This one is also peak, only let down by the fact that it is merely the first part of a much larger story. I hope season two comes soon.

Sayonara Lara: My favorite of the season! The first episode speedruns through The Little Mermaid with the original fairytale's ending and then the rest of the show is basically a redemption arc. Hans Christian Anderson actually did write a redemption arc in later on, sort of, so it's interesting to see a show explore that. A lot of people were upset with this show because it wasn't yuri enough. I didn't go in with that expectation, so I wasn't disappointed by the lack of it. You should definitely watch it regardless, but the yuri does not pan out. The show has gorgeous art, is animated well, has a lovely soundtrack, it's just great, please watch it.

Yani Neko: This is the sixth show that I ended up not watching. I was warned it was gross, but I thought it would be fine. Then I got a few minutes into the first episode when she drops her cigs butt first into a literal pile of shit and I was like nope nope nope nope nope nope I know the joke is she still smokes them that's enough for me nope no thank you and I deleted it off my MAL. Didn't even list it as dropped, just deleted it. It's a shame because if it weren't so putrid, I'd probably like it, going off what I've heard about it.

To Your Eternity: Yes, I finally knuckled down and finished this one! There were times when I wanted to drop it, and maybe I should have just dropped it, but I'm glad I didn't. The last episode got to me and reminded me why I loved this show in the first place. I've seen people say this is the weakest arc in the manga, and I can see why. Mizuha is pretty much a Mary Sue, the one guy who Fushi lives with is kind of annoying (this might just be his voice actor overdoing it, I haven't read the manga to be sure), and that sea turtle scene was... Fucking hilarious for all the wrong reasons. The worst part was that lolicon guy, holy shit I hated that. Like, he gets a little sister and is all like, oooh I always wanted a little sister! God, what a creep. Like maybe if he was struggling with it and his reaction to getting a little sister wasn't joy but maybe being afraid of hurting her? I don't know what the author was thinking with this one. Hopefully the next season will be a lot better.

Beastars: Ha! I finished this one, too! It kinda lost me with the cringey ending. Honestly, this show should've ended when they caught the devourer. I was still enjoying it up to the ending, though.

Next Season

#Zombie Sagashitemasu: I already started this show and I gotta tell you, this show looks like shit. I was seriously considering dropping it in the first episode. Then I watched the second episode and almost did drop it, but the end of the second episode gave me some pause. It didn't even do what it did all that well, but there was a moment when the main character put her friend down and I just thought, damn, that's actually kind of getting to me. I might end up regretting my choice to not drop it, but we'll see.

Made in Abyss: Mezameru Shinpi: Made in Abyss is an amazing show. It's not for everyone. It can be incredibly weird and gross, to the point where it's made me gag. The show can also be so incredibly gorgeous and heartbreaking. All this to say I'm very much looking forward to this new movie. I've read that the plan is to make two more movies and finish the series. I don't know if that's true, but as long as I get to see the ending to this series, I'll be happy.

I was going to watch another show this season, Tetsuryou, but I was kind of iffy on whether I wanted to watch it at all. When I saw it had a low score, I deleted it off my plan to watch list. Most of the other shows this season don't look interesting either. I may end up picking something else up after old Geoffy makes his seasonal video, but this season may turn out to be a bit of a bust. Oh, well, more time to try classic shows!

Classic Shows

Kyousou Giga: Still no progress yet, but soon...

Turn A Gundam: I finally finished this one! I have to say, it's probably my favorite Gundam series so far. It's funny because this is essentially the ending of all of Gundam, and it's the fourth show I completed out of I don't even know how many. There were two series and two movies before this in the Universal Century timeline alone that I haven't watched!

Other Stuff

Woah, new section! So shiny and oh, oh no, it's already got fingerprints and tiny scratches on it. Bummer. In this section, I will talk about stuff I consumed other than anime. Not every single piece of media, mind you, but stuff I have thoughts for. This may end up not being included every time I do one of these posts.

Coyote vs Acme: I saw this was getting released and decided I had to see it in theaters. I'm pretty sure I saw the first showing at my local theater; it was certainly the first day the movie was released. The movie itself did turn out to be good. The skeleton of the story is just a typical American family movie and the legal stuff makes no sense, but it's really funny and I'm definitely glad to have watched it.

The Rest of My Life

I've settled pretty okay into my new apartment. It's not much, just four rooms, but it's not super small rooms and it has a washer and dryer. I still need to get a couch or a futon or something, I'm still using a folding chair in the living room. I do have a proper bed, at least. I started out with an air mattress!

With my continuing addiction to Facebook Marketplace, I've acquired both a Wii and Wii U. The Wii U was probably a mistake, but did come with a 512 GB SD card, which is worth the price of entry on its own these days. I've also started collecting cameras, cheap ones that nobody wants anymore, like the Mavicas I mentioned previously in this series. I am also looking to get a new (at least to me) "good" camera. I've had a D40 since 2014, but it has unfortunately gotten a hot pixel. It also doesn't have enough resolution for pictures 4K and above. This is an issue, as I'd like to contribute wallpapers to some open source projects, but last time I looked into it, you have to have a 4K version of the image to submit. Honestly, I could have a D40x, a very slight upgrade, for dirt cheap and be able to achieve that, but I want like, a really nice camera, you know? Back when I got my D40, Ken Rockwell's website was a godsend, as he had a pretty comprehensive guide to all the features and menus and such on the D40. Rockwell is still writing and recommends a Canon R50 for most people, but I've also been looking at a couple older Nikons, like the D5600 and D3500. These are excellent cameras at a fraction of the price, even when you compare both used, but maybe I should just shoot for an R50, or even an R10.

As I was writing this, an auction I was watching with a D5600 ended with no bids. The seller didn't seem sketchy, they had a good rating and sold other electronics and cameras. I think it might have been because of the incredbily high $60 shipping. I messaged them and asked if they'd take $350 or waive the shipping fee. I think I got brain worms over this because I saw a D5600 on Facebook Marketplace for $400 and by the time I decided to buy it, the guy had already sold it. If this eBay seller gets back to me and sells me the camera for what I asked, not only will I get the kit lens and bag with it like the other guy had, I'll also get a couple lenses and other accessories with it. Of course, the seller may not even get back to me. Who knows?

Update while I was still writing this: The seller responded, saying they'd accept the $350 offer. They reactivated the listing and I sent the offer, which they did indeed accept. I am now awaiting my new (to me) Nikon D5600. I may still get the Canon R50 or R10 down the line, but not this year. Maybe next year.

One highlight this quarter was going to visit a friend in the Philadelphia area. I didn't actually go into Philadelphia and it was raining the whole time I was there, but I did get to go to a few thrift stores. I got some books (as if I needed more of those), a box set of The Century VHS tapes, a White House tour program on a white VHS, and a couple VCDs. If you don't know what a Video CD is, it's video on a CD. Really shitty video. The reason you haven't heard of it is because it was popular in China. For the longest time, there was even a black market for bootlegged copies of movies on VCD. I think the two I got were offical releases, though.

I've been acquiring more stuff in general. Part of that is going to a flea market each week. It's good for me in the sense it gets me up and moving and out of the apartment, but it's bad because I'm spending more money on more junk I don't really need. I just bought a small TV for ten bucks, but because the resolution is weird, everything I've put on it looks stretched and terrible. Why would you make a TV with a 16:10 aspect ratio and only allow 16:9 and 4:3 resolutions? What were they thinking? All this to say, I have to be careful and try to avoid hoarding. I get it from my mother.

Speaking of my mother, my apartment has been overrun by her plants. They were previously on the porch of the old house, but it's gotten too cold to leave them there. I will be more active in trying to give them away, but it's going to be difficult. A lot of them did die while they were on the porch, unfortunately, killed either by the sun or the temperature drops we had before, but we did manage to remove them before the first frost. I will say, this isn't even half of the collection she had amassed up to when she died, and I've got five large laundry baskets and four or five boxes of them. This woman was a serious plant hoarder. I told her she needed to downsize, but she wouldn't listen to me, and now a bunch are dead. Still, I'd say we did pretty well, considering the circumstances. Now I just need to get the shelves off the porch and distribute the plants on them with grow lights so they don't die in those laundry baskets. Several also have mealy bugs, which I will need to remedy. They're not that hard to kill, you just have to take a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol and they basically turn into goo, I just have to sit down and actually do it. Aside from those, the plants I took initially are actually doing pretty well. Some of them are even enjoying surprising growth, like the old man cactus that's growing a new head, and the dick cactus that's growing some balls (I'm only half joking, this particular cactus looks like a penis and the new growth comes out of the soil from "below" the "penis" looking like a bunch of balls stuck together).

I'm not sure what I'll do for the next one of these. I could do just the seasonal post, do a seasonal post and a year in review post separately, or do both in one post. I'll have to think about it, but I'll see you then.