Aharen-san wa Hakarenai Series Review – Episode 1

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Long ago, in the distant time of September of 2013, I started this blog under the name “Criticism & Thoughts.” Throughout the years, I’ve discussed a large number of visually based mediums and topics, but one thing I never did—either out of spite or laziness or both—was dedicate myself to reviewing an ongoing anime episodically as it released… outside of when I collaborated with someone.

That was then and this is now. Completely on a whim, as many of my decisions are, I decided to start my very first episodic reviewing journey with Aharen-san wa Hakarenai, a topic I am also currently reading in manga form. As it is my first time doing this (alone), I have no idea how I will structure these posts or how much detail I will go into. Let’s find out together!

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Top 10 Highest Quality SiIvaGunner Rips (2022 Edition)

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Hello. Welcome to another Top 10 list detailing the highest quality of SiIvaGunner rips I’ve found. If you have never read this before, know that SiIvaGunner is a channel dedicated to supplying your eardrums with magical gaming memories that will last you the rest of your days. As of writing, the channel has over 19,000 videos, most of which are high quality rips.

With so many to choose from, it’s astounding to think that I, alone, can go through everything in order to ascertain quality to make these lists. Alas, I must admit: I listen to maybe ten to twenty new rips within a month’s span, ’cause ain’t nobody got time for that. Nevertheless, many new rips have supplied themselves into the chambers of my memory bank, nestled firmly in place with love and affection.

There are no specific ruleset to make this list; I simply have to adore the tracks. Though this is a “2022 list,” it does not have to have come out in 2022 to qualify. (I’m pretty sure zero tracks I’m going to cover were published in 2022.) This also isn’t meant to insinuate that these tracks are better than others I’ve documented previously. Consider it ten new high quality tracks for a full new year.

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Day Thirty-One: All or Nothing (2002) (March of the Movies 2022)

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Apologies for the somewhat shoddy cover photo; there does not seem to be a lot of good cover photos for All or Nothing. Additional apologies for the length of this post, as the end is in sight and I am sprinting.

Mike Leigh is a special kind of director. I’ve stated before that Denis Villeneuve is likely my favorite director currently living, but Mike Leigh makes a very strong case for being in similar company. Something about the way he constructs situations and molds characters really appeals to me. Poignantly depressing, but generally offering glimmers of hope or humanity. Also seems to get the absolute best of out his actors. It’s a character-driven paradise!

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Day Thirty: Black Christmas (1974) (March of the Movies 2022)

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With this, my Horror quota for the month has been filled. No one can say I didn’t watch anything “scary.” Take that, literally nobody.

My cowardice aside, Black Christmas was something of a choice based on curiosity. I had never heard of it before, and I was convinced that the title was more racially significant than it was thematically. Upon some further research, it seems this is considered a progenitor to the “slasher film” subgenre, which is neat! Even with the threat of many jumpscares afoot, my addiction to analysis overweighed my disdain for BOO!

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Day Twenty-Nine: Witness (1985) (March of the Movies 2022)

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Harrison Ford stars in a high-stakes thriller with action, romance, and a ton of Amish people! Not quite the kind of action you’d necessarily expect, given that over half of this film is Ford learning how to live as an Amish person! That’ll definitely sell, right?

While there are some things that could be elaborated on, I’m gonna keep this post rather short. The light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter and, boy, am I running as fast as I can!

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Day Twenty-Eight: Carol (2015) (March of the Movies 2022)

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Romance, as I’ve stated before, used to be something that compelled me. Love itself is rather compelling to most, especially those who have rarely had that sensation present within them. When it comes to films deeply involved in the passionate feeling, I’ve found that some of the best involve same-sex couples. Disobedience comes to mind.

Though these stories also tend to have that tired “forbidden” angle to it, where it’s placed in some ye olde fashion timeframe and everyone’s like, “Eww, gay?” That obviously adds some spice of drama to an already emotionally volatile affair. Carol is another one of these that seems to have very positive fanfare from those who viewed it. A good friend of mine also adores it. With all that, why not see how it is?

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Day Twenty-Seven: J’ai perdu mon corps (March of the Movies 2022)

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This morning was something, let me tell you. My original intention was to watch The Book of Life on Disney+. However, the streaming service would not load for me, despite trying multiple times. Scrambling to find a replacement film, I browsed through hundreds of films on other streaming services looking for anything of interest—in particular, animation.

With no luck, I escaped to Letterboxd for a more in-depth search. (I had been searching for nearly an hour by this point.) Then I came across J’ai perdu mon corps (or I Lost My Body), something a critic I trust liked quite a bit. With a short runtime and an intriguing synopsis, I said, “Fuck it” and booted it up. Ended up being a solid choice!

[Post will be short.]

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Ranking The Oscars 2022 Best Picture Candidates

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Last year, I spoke about how, initially, the nominees for Best Picture seemed pretty solid, but the opportunity to watch all of them proved to be lackluster. This year was kind of the opposite. At first, the nominees seemed very… we’ll say “odd” to me. Then, after viewing most of them, I’ve come around on them more than last year’s batch. It’s more consistently solid, though perhaps not entirely sensational.

Note that I said I saw most of them this year. Unlike last year, I did not have the same opportunity to see every nominee. As of writing, I have not seen Licorice Pizza (which, to me, seems like the frontrunner), CODA, or Belfast. As such, they will not appear on this list. Should that ruin this ranking for you, by all means, close the tab.

As frequent readers are aware, I did view a few Best Picture nominees during my currently continuing March of the Movies block, so I will simply link to those reviews for extended thoughts. All other extended thoughts on individual films will have links to their parent sources. (I believe I have reviews for all of them somewhere.)

And if, for whatever reason, you with to see prior years’ rankings, you can see my 2018, 2019, and 2020 lists before this one. (The 2021 list is linked in the first two words.)

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Day Twenty-Six: Blinkende lygter (March of the Movies 2022)

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Today’s post will also be somewhat on the short side. Reason being is that I wish to write a second post to go out hopefully later tonight, if not tomorrow morning.

Blinkende lygter, or Flickering Lights in English, is a film I discovered while looking through the filmography of Mads Mikkelsen. I did state that I wished to expand my film-viewing choices to that of things outside the English language—how about Danish? This had solid reviews and, again, featured Mikkelsen, an actor I respect. Sure, I’ll give it a shot.

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Day Twenty-Five: The French Dispatch (March of the Movies 2022)

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This post will perhaps be the shortest yet, and maybe the shortest there will be. I spent a good chunk of today playing Kirby and the Forgotten Land, then what I originally intended to watch ended up becoming unavailable. Thus, I settled on The French Dispatch. (The other film was a Wes Anderson picture, too, so it worked out.)

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