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Yo man, kryptoleaf here, you on discord anymore?

Mb for the late reply, I didn't see your message pop up on the website. But yea that totally makes sense about both TG and 20th CB. Good to know about your friend.

Lol that's true on maturity. And yea, mindless media is also probably not great for your brain in general, so it's both a waste of time and memory for no real reason. However, it can still be enjoyable, so I suppose there's still meaning in it in a way. And damn, those 3 in succession is a crazy lineup haha.

Good to know about Gintama, I may start it sometime in the future when I have some time. But yea, I do agree that humor is pretty hit or miss for these types of media, but I have seen a few where it worked pretty well. Aot and Berserk were definitely NOT one of them tho lol.

Glad you liked edgerunners, and I gave it an 8/10 as well. The setting and style of it only amplified those themes you mentioned, and I found myself just drawn to it completely. And that's an interesting point you mentioned about the fiscal/political nature of our countries, I suppose dystopian settings like cyberpunk are more aligned with the corporatized oligarchs seen in the USA and other similar G7 countries following capitalism. Class division creates entirely different experiences for people, and there are few avenues for "success." In a world where everything seems technologically connected, human connection is not as easily accessible and makes it all the more meaningful as you said. I love how Night City is coined the city of dreams, but the supposed dream led David to nothing but losing himself in the end. I'm not gonna lie, I almost cried in the ending since I really liked David and Lucy as a couple, and it was so powerful seeing how much of himself he destroyed in pursuit of a dream that was truly worth nothing. In a capitalist world where dog eats dog and oligarchs rule, you can't blame his thinking, but it does come to show how futile the broad definition of "success" may be if you give up everything else.

I do agree that the US model is not that great since there seems to be a pretty stark separation across resources and accessibility to opportunities. I do sincerely think anyone can reach our society's belief of success, but your socioeconomic origins and whatnot contribute so dramatically that it never truly is an equal playing field. I suppose nothing in life is truly equal, but I do think there should at least be more efforts to standardize things like healthcare and proper access to resources to those who wouldn't necessarily be able to afford. To be fair, there are some systems in place, but that's comparable to a band aid on a gunshot wound. Also, no worries about going political, even if we disagreed heavily I'm open to hearing different perspectives. I will say though, that I've been here my whole life without any true societal difficulty, so I don't have personal qualms with the model. But if I were to look at it from a holistic lens, then it's clear that there needs to be some sort of reform. However, realistically speaking, capitalism and individualism are too ingrained within the values and culture of our history, that I don't believe this to ever change in the near future. I honestly don't know too much about Norway, but I'd assume it has considerably less of a class division as we have in the USA.

That totally makes sense on Tokyo Ghoul. I was also frantically looking for the supposed peaks while reading, but I guess partway through I kinda realized that I had so many issues with it, and the rest didn't really make up for it. I have an understanding of the side of tiktok you may have been on, since I remember getting content that was centered around comparing anime and saying which was the most "complex" or whatnot. On the topic of edgy media, I completely understand since I lowkey still have a soft spot for stuff like that. Also surprising you mentioned 20th CB since I vaguely remember you considering it a favorite. I was enjoying it for a decent bit, but I eventually ended up thinking it was pretty mediocre as it progressed due to a lack of focus in characterization and overall purpose. But what you said makes sense, I suppose it speaks volumes to how preconceived notions about a certain thing (whether it be media or anything) can heavily influence our lasting perception on it. And ofc solid favorites, all those are amazing (altho haven't seen gintama ofc).

Lol yea, at a certain point once you've been telling yourself something is "peak" because everyone else thinks it is, you're gonna end up believing that you truly think it's great. I had the same type of feeling, but I do agree with you that Morgana is a quite compelling character all things considered. And right, you and yeagerbonebone are irl friends, it's been maybe 2 yrs since I've spoken to him, but I distinctly remember him loving it a lot too lol.

Damn, well said, and I will for sure take your advice. I also feel like I'm younger than I really am, but I suppose most have the same thoughts from what I've gathered. There's no true stark change that happens in our personality or overall demeanor as we age past a certain point, so everything within 18-25 kind of blends together from what people older than me seem to say. And lmao thank you for saying that about my maturity, I've always loved stories and tried to understand every shade. However, I must say I don't consider myself to be a mature person at all lmfao, and in many ways I think myself to be somewhat immature compared to my peers. But I do agree that most of our thoughts seem to be extremely similar, even more so now with you changing your opinions on the few pieces of media we seemed to have different scores on. Funny you mention that about your sister, because mine (who is 4 yrs younger than me) would only watch disney channel stuff and love island lol. I guess it depends on what people wish to take away from fiction. Many see it as a way to kill time and be mildly entertained, which is fine, but I suppose we see it as a way to connect with unique ideas. Of course, I still enjoy mindless entertainment pretty often, so it's not like I'm looking down upon those who choose to engage with it that way. And yea, I did watch Eva when I was 18, but I believe I started going deep into dissecting stories further when I was around 16 or so, honestly due to AOT. For me at the time, it was so unlike anything I'd witnessed before. That kind of got me deeper into anime and visual media in general, but analyzing stories in school was always pretty fun for me (though I did resent reading as homework when i was younger).

Also yea I live in California, so our time regions are pretty off lol. I also don't have notifications on for MAL, so I sometimes see comments pretty late. But absolutely, Gintama is for sure on my plan to watch, and I will get to it someday. Everyone who has seen it seems to rave about it a ton, so I'm pretty excited to give it a try when I give it a try. Plus, I've seen a couple youtube clips and it genuinely was funny.

Ahh I see what you mean now about Umineko. And funny you mentioned that about Tokyo Ghoul, I felt like I was going crazy being the only one who seemed to have rated it a 5 (and TG:Re a 4/10). Good start, but it was just so absurdly sensationalized with no real substance in my opinion haha. I must say that I do agree that the dialogue of certain series like AOT end up feeling like a step down in quality compared to mediums where English is native. However, I think this is largely due to translation difficulties as I mentioned earlier and languages simply offering different types of prose. For most anime, the dialogue is simply a serviceable vehicle for the main ideas, themes, and characters. I do agree that the prose itself is usually nothing to write home about, but at the same time, I don't really see that as a major issue since this has different intents and purposes compared to other mediums we might be comparing it to. I had this same sort of revelation with a lot of anime, but it's something that I can look past and still enjoy regardless of how it may fare relative to books or TV shows with a stronger grasp of utilizing the language.

YES, you share exactly my thoughts on what you said about Fata. I must say I'm quite surprised that you ended up changing your opinion on it since I remember you stating it was a high 10 and one of your favorite pieces of fiction in general. Regardless, I'm glad you decided otherwise haha. I have also fell victim to hypetrains, so I completely understand lol.

That totally makes sense about managing your time. I suppose free time will come sporadically as circumstances change for me in that case. And yea, it's definitely great to enjoy yourself while you still can (not that you can't once you get a job, but just less stress and more time now). For me, I wouldn't say dense media is too exhausting necessarily, but it's more so that I wouldn't be able to properly enjoy and engage with it as I would if I could dedicate my entire mind to understanding and dissecting everything. Like in freshman year of college, I still was busy and whatnot, but I wasn't very stressed about school since my classes were much easier, so I was able to read a lot of books, notably C&P during the end of that school year. But damn, that's kinda frightening that 20-24 was faster than 17-21 haha, although it is understandable, and I guess there isn't much I can do to change the flow of time lol. I'll get older no matter what I do, but it is a bit daunting realizing that my "trial period" of being considered very young and naive is closing in on its last few breaths. And I'm glad you think that way about our conversations, I do feel the same way too haha, and ofc I'll never truly give up on experiencing media/art. There's just so much interesting stuff out there, so I'm sure that I'll figure out a way to make the time lol.

Ahh I see. I'm quite surprised that Umineko has those types of scenes since I heard that it was tamer compared to the usual trappings of the medium. But that's entirely understandable about your reaction, and I do agree that a lot of Japanese media suffers from amateurish writing/dialogue, especially exacerbated by things lost in translation. On the flip side, FMD Muramasa truly reads like a book lol and feels polished in terms of prose and overall respect given to the audience. However, if you found yourself disliking Umineko for those types of scenes, I'm certain you would find the NSFW moments of Muramasa to be distasteful (though it is not done for fanservice but more so brutality). In which case, I wouldn't recommend playing unless you go with the censored version which cuts those scenes out if you ever end up trying in the far future.

That's fair about Fata, I honestly believe that majority of people who were a part of the short-lived craze for it just went along the hype train and gave it a 10 without much thought. At least that's what I did, but after a few months I started to actually think and realize that it was good but not nearly as much as I had told myself it was when I initially finished. I do hope to check out Requiem someday, but most likely won't lol since it's been a while since I've been involved or interested in the series.

Nice nice, let me know what you think when you finish Edgerunners. Understandable about the Deadwood movie, I didn't like it a ton either, but it was serviceable for what it was trying to be at the least. The main TV series is definitely where it shines the most, and I'm really glad you enjoyed it. And cool, Twilight Zone seems pretty interesting, I keep hearing references being made to it but have yet to see it.

I honestly don't have much plans for media in general aside from some low stakes anime here and there to relax. I am indeed busy again with school and whatnot, so I unfortunately won't be having much time to immerse myself in dense, quality fiction. I suppose for now, my main media project is finishing the VN I was talking about, but I probably won't get much further until holidays come unfortunately. Going on a tangent, this kinda makes me sad that I'm growing up and having less and less time to dedicate to interests like anime, shows, books, etc. I feel like it's only going to get even busier here on out, and my prime binging time feels like it has somewhat slipped away lol. I think we started speaking when I had just turned 17, but now I'm 21. But yea it seems I need to be more strategic about what I want to experience when I get free time since it appears to be consistently limited nowadays. I doubt I'd get through all the fiction I want to experience before I die unless I completely disregard my actual responsibilities lmfao.

Absolutely, that's understandable, and I feel the same way.

I for sure will watch six feet under some day, although likely in the very distant future haha. I'm glad you love deadwood too, I agree with everything you've said.

Lol understandable about VNs also, as I've also had a falling out with the medium, but I'm finding that I enjoy this one particularly well. There definitely are some weird NSFW scenes that are certain to be off putting to you, but I think they somewhat fit with the story. Not much changes with them gone, but it is what it is. I never knew u read Umineko, what was your opinion on it? Umineko is high on my anticipated list, so I'm surprised you didn't enjoy it. Also, why didn't you like Reincarnation of Fata? I only read the base game and not Requiem nor reincarnation, but my opinion of it has dwindled considerably though I still like it. Currently, I have it at a low border 7/10.

Great to hear about your next plans, keep me updated on what you experience. If you want recommendations, I'd say to consider watching Cyberpunk Edgerunners as it is only 10 episodes. It's not particularly complex or anything but just an amazing tightly written story that has memorable characters with decent depth. Plus, its style is just phenomenal. I found the story and characters to be more memorable than the actual game associated lol.

Absolutely, it's pretty packed with material, so recalling some of the stuff can be understandably hard.

Nice nice, glad to see you enjoyed Six Feet Under and Deadwood. And makes sense about Count of Monte Cristo, it's a quite accessible read but still done in a very interesting and insightful way.

For me, I'm actually reading a visual novel at the moment titled Full Metal Daemon Muramasa. I haven't played that many visual novels, but I had this one, Umineko, and Subahibi as works that I really wanted to try someday. I'm currently about 1/3 in, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It has a considerably unique setting with amazing characters, along with one of the best political machinations shown across most works of fiction. I am yet to see the "best" parts of it apparently, so I'm excited to continue. I must say though, there are some nsfw scenes that rly might rub people the wrong way, so it may be divisive based on who's reading.

Hey man it's going well, I'm back at school now that summer has ended. How are you?

I've finished Paradise Lost since we last spoke, and I thought it was extremely thought-provoking. Satan is a very compelling character, and I enjoyed the fact that Milton made him out to seem a tragic figure that we could sympathize with, even with his development towards the latter part of the book. Though I am not religious, I greatly enjoy stories from the Bible as they have a grandiose feeling imbued with all of the settings and events. With Paradise Lost serving as somewhat of a retelling, it carried that same feeling while also making pretty multi-dimensional statements on humanity and free will in general. With how I see it, I believe that Milton was saying that free will inherently makes humans imperfect, and in a way that human nature itself could be classified as evil. I think it was fascinating how he made Satan out to be the most interesting and even agreeable character at times, which serves the purpose of showing how tempting those qualities may be and also how there is valid reasoning against the standardized virtues. Additionally, the entire text is written so poetically and elegantly that I simply have to mention how well the prose was during my experience. Overall, I'd say it's a high 8/10 for me.

Yea that's what I'm studying. And that totally makes sense.

Damn that's surprising it got taken off HBO since it originally aired there lmao. Nice nice, and will do.

I'll be finishing my bachelors in 2 years since I'm doing a dual degree, and I ended up needing 5 years total. Awesome, hope you enjoy your vacation before u join the workforce. That totally makes sense, it's good to consciously take a break, and I'm in a similar boat where I followed the norm of going straight to uni after hs.

And nice, Deadwood is a great show, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Let me know how Count of Monte Cristo goes, since I loved that book. Speaking of which, there's an anime called Gankutsuou that draws heavy inspiration from that story and is really good apparently, although I haven't seen it yet. I have quite a few books lined up, but my next one I was planning on will def be Paradise Lost since I've been putting it off for months lmao. I'll do that before my big AOT/Monster rewatches during this summer.

No worries man, and I'm doing great thanks for asking. Great to hear your thoughts and agreed on everything you mentioned on BCS.

Also congrats on graduating! It's nice that you got a lot of free time now, you deserve the chance to unwind after accomplishing that. I luckily am pretty free too although I'm in the midst of a few projects before heading to my penultimate year of college in the fall. Are you planning on going straight to work after the summer, or do you plan to take time off/do something else?

Also nice, Six Feet Under looks really promising and is definitely on my watchlist for possibly the distant future, so I'm glad you're enjoying it. HBO really produced so many top notch shows when they were in their peak lol.

As for me, I'm planning to rewatch the entirety of AOT and possibly Monster soon. It's been about 4 years since I touched both of them, and I've recently had a strong urge to reconnect with both the series for some reason haha

Hey bro, I wanted to let you know that I recently finished Better Call Saul, and I really enjoyed it. Overall, I have it at an 8/10, very close to how much I liked Breaking Bad. I liked the fact that it takes a more subdued/reserved approach to storytelling and presenting themes as opposed to the more grandiose moments seen in BB. Both work great in their own regards, just differently, which I greatly appreciated.

Jimmy's character coming full circle in the end was amazing, and I think that ending where he lured Kim over to watch his confession and their final smoke scene was just so perfect. I'm quite surprised that there was some divisiveness surrounding it, since this pretty much made it abundantly clear that he's done with the lies that made him ruin his life. Seeing his beginnings and journey, it's understandable that none of this was what he wanted, and he never imagined himself wanting to lead a life where he threw away everyone around him just to bask in meaningless success.

Speaking of lies, I think it's quite interesting how his deceitfulness mostly came about through his need for approval from his brother, while his brother in turn is jealous of how much goes in Jimmy's favor. Even though Chuck is a law partner with a prestigious background, he still felt inferior to his brother when looking at interpersonal relationships, while Jimmy felt inferior in terms of ability. Regardless, both brothers had their own qualms and coped differently, and it was such great writing to see the fallout of their fights and implied love, especially once Chuck had passed. Also, Kim took me by surprise with how well-written she was and how well she fit alongside Jimmy's story. In BB, it felt like most of the women characters were just reactionary elements, but Kim in BCS was quite complex in how she was both enabling yet critical of Jimmy's behavior. And lastly, that sequence towards the end with them, Lalo, and Hamlin was just phenomenal.

It was also cool to get a bit more depth into Mike's character. In BB, I was admittedly indifferent to him, but I got a newfound appreciation for him this time around.

I can't really rank the seasons, but I think the show generally got better as it progressed while remaining pretty consistent. However, S1 is kinda cartoonish lol, but from S2 onwards it found its footing.

That makes sense, I'll let you know what I think when I finish it.

That's somewhat understandable for both those books. 1984 was a little overrated in my opinion and a bit simplistic in its political stances, but I still found it decently interesting. For Great Gatsby, while it can be boring at times, I appreciated the overall themes enough to look past some of the qualms I may have had while reading. Interesting to hear about Faust, and that's great to know for context.

Damn, I had no idea Murakami's writing and subject matter were like that, so this is pretty surprising to learn lmao. That does sound pretty weird haha, but it kinda gives me some morbid curiosity to see how I'd react to his works. Understandable about your rating with what you said lol

Fire, that's good to hear.

Solid, and I agree. The best was definitely in the middle seasons, and while the latter parts were great, they did lose some of that initial momentum. Donald def is a strong character and one of my favs as well. And yea, the music was phenomenally used throughout. Great writeup on the themes, and I'd also add that the illusion of perfectionism and status is another key aspect of all this. Images of wealth and status make one believe the person to be ideal, but as we see, there's still a level of dissatisfaction that never truly escapes, and wealth may be used to mask that insecurity. Absolutely agree on how a big unique strength is how it rarely relies on twists and takes a more reserved approach to storytelling, which worked amazingly.

Also, funny that you mention Breaking Bad, since I actually started watching Better Call Saul on a whim a few days ago. So far, I've finished s1. As of now, it's not on the level of BB but it's extremely entertaining, and I'm getting a much higher appreciation for Jimmy/Saul's character.


Damn nice, you've read a ton of noteworthy books in a pretty short period of time haha. Of those you listed, I've read 1984 and The Great Gatsby. Enjoyed both, but Great Gatsby particularly was very interesting and I loved how it embodied the disillusionment/folly associated with The American Dream. Glad to see you liked the others you mentioned, and I've added the Ice Palace to my to read list along with the others already there from that list. Sucks that Mountain Maid doesn't have an English translation, but that summary sounds very interesting. Great to hear your thoughts on all of the books you listed, and Faust is definitely my most anticipated one. For Faust, though you say part 2 was more challenging, do you hold it on the same level as part 1 in terms of quality? And for Kafka on the Shore, I've heard Murakami is a quite polarizing author so I'm interested to hear your stance on his writing.


Nice nice, lmk the verdict once you're done.

Hey bro, nah I haven't gotten around to reading or seeing anything new, since I've been in a pretty brutal stretch of midterms and internship-related shit for the past month a half lmao. I've gotten my physical copy of Paradise Lost, but I want to wait to experience it in a time where I don't have so much stress and commitments floating in my mind, so I'm likely going to push it back til summer unfortunately.

Ayy nice to see ur done with Mad Men. How'd you like it overall? I'd love to hear your thoughts. And what're the finished books you're referring to?