media round-up
Dec. 30th, 2024 07:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sideways• Prior to watching Osomatsu-san, I would have said it was an anime about six identical brothers who don't really do anything. Turns out that's not untrue, but it omits the crucial context of it being an affectionate tribute to an old school gag series called Osomatsu-kun, and an adult comedy that vacillates between crude humour, genre jokes, and hilariously savage slice of life skits that should resonate with anyone who has ever experienced siblings frustrations. I wouldn't recommend it without caveats, but I had a surprisingly good time.
• Mouthwashing rocketed across Tumblr and I managed to get curious enough to watch an LP just before the hype backlash started to kick in. Well-crafted, overall! The ending dragged a little and I have various complex feelings about Anya's storyline, but it did some genuinely impressive things with the medium.
• Having been there for the beginning of Destiny, it felt wrong not to be there at the end, so I ended up purchasing and quickly mainlining some of the key expansions I'd missed during my, er, seven year hiatus: Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, and Witch Queen. The last one was by far my favourite, even if it forced me to continually crush Ghosts with my bare hands, aaaugh.
• The Final Shape itself was... okay. I applaud the decision to make Ghosts its narrative heart, and the continuation of the alliances built with other aliens, and some of the nostalgia button mashing. I can't say it stuck the ten year landing, though. Destiny's slipping grasp on its own core mythology - the conflict between Light and Darkness, and what that actually looks like and means - was disappointingly obvious. On top of that, the expansion threatened to not even be that fun to play as a solo campaigner thanks to six hundred annoying ass shield mechanics and three boss fights per level. Bungie. Please. I have other things to do. Still, I got through it (with help) and got a little misty-eyed about it, and now I feel comfortable never spending money on Destiny again, so it's at least it is an ending.
• Arcane's second season either greatly delighted or greatly disappointed people. Alas, I am on the side of the haters. So it goes. Spreading the story across three seasons rather than two might have salvaged it for me; but there were also some choices I simply didn't vibe with at all.
• Mouthwashing rocketed across Tumblr and I managed to get curious enough to watch an LP just before the hype backlash started to kick in. Well-crafted, overall! The ending dragged a little and I have various complex feelings about Anya's storyline, but it did some genuinely impressive things with the medium.
• Having been there for the beginning of Destiny, it felt wrong not to be there at the end, so I ended up purchasing and quickly mainlining some of the key expansions I'd missed during my, er, seven year hiatus: Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, and Witch Queen. The last one was by far my favourite, even if it forced me to continually crush Ghosts with my bare hands, aaaugh.
• The Final Shape itself was... okay. I applaud the decision to make Ghosts its narrative heart, and the continuation of the alliances built with other aliens, and some of the nostalgia button mashing. I can't say it stuck the ten year landing, though. Destiny's slipping grasp on its own core mythology - the conflict between Light and Darkness, and what that actually looks like and means - was disappointingly obvious. On top of that, the expansion threatened to not even be that fun to play as a solo campaigner thanks to six hundred annoying ass shield mechanics and three boss fights per level. Bungie. Please. I have other things to do. Still, I got through it (with help) and got a little misty-eyed about it, and now I feel comfortable never spending money on Destiny again, so it's at least it is an ending.
• Arcane's second season either greatly delighted or greatly disappointed people. Alas, I am on the side of the haters. So it goes. Spreading the story across three seasons rather than two might have salvaged it for me; but there were also some choices I simply didn't vibe with at all.
