Like The Tomato
Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
You know, I am so mad that I have to go back to work tomorrow. I just really don’t want to go to work is what I’m saying.
Anyway, today is another lazy day. I dilly-dallied the whole day. Or at least that’s what I thought I did. I woke up late-ish. Not too bad though. But it was still after 7 AM, which was fine. I had n pressing plans today.
I did hang out with my love today. And we watched some anime episodes.
Tokyo Ghoul. We watched five episodes, finishing up the second season. This season was definitely less intense than the first season. The Kaneki torture episodes were still ingrained in my brain, trust me. The season was not dull by any means but mellow. Not slow, mellow. The season was more focused on characters this time. Backstories. Character development. And the like. So I understand why it needed to be less action-packed. We got introduced to new characters, which I am interested in. This anime, for sure, is incredible in showing struggling characters. Seeing Kaneki’s internal struggle will always be powerful. Seeing Juuzou Suzuya not give up on fighting the one-eyed owl. The Shuu Tsukiyama breakdown scene was also excellent. Nothing is more powerful than a normally composed character being so distraught trying to stop Kaneki from joining the fight between the doves and Anteiku. I’m still debating if Touka Kirishima was even necessary for this anime. I mean, I’m pretty sure that there is something that I’m missing, but I just do not like her. The budding romance between Kotaro Amon and Akira Mado is unnecessary. Bleh. Not sure why anime do this. Having a romance subplot when it’s not needed. However, it did not distract from the main story and it’s not as in your face so I’m not going to complain about it as much. We also got introduced to Kishou Arima, I am intrigued by this character. I mean, this one just came out of nowhere and started hammering on the one-eyed owl. My hun thinks it’s because he wears glasses. I did not deny it.
Haikyu!! I have nothing much to say about this. By this time, I think I made it clear how much I love this sports anime. The Karasuno team’s drive to be better is amazing. They know they will be coming into the competition at a disadvantage but they are working hard to train skills that they are lacking. I love them. This anime is just so wholesome. And the fact that these characters show character development in every episode – granted this is more shown on Hinata and Kageyama – is amazing. They are so fluid and adjust to what is thrown at them. I really enjoyed the practice match between Karasuno and Nekoma was amazing. I liked how Nekoma – despite not having “geniuses” on their team – was able to showcase the fact that they work as a team, and are strong as a team. Especially now that the players on the court for Nekoma are not new players compared to Karasuno who has three new players in their lineup. But yeah, we love this anime.
We did not watch The Case Study of Vanitas today. I think I’m going to put that one on hold for now. Maybe even drop it at this point. We shall see though, I am still on defense, to be honest. I cannot seem to decide right now. I am still enjoying Vanitas and Noe and I want to see more character development from them. But the freaking fluff is too distracting.
How was my reading in 2022? I guess it’s time for a quick recap.
Let me, I read a total of 41 items. This total is a combination of novels, manga, and webtoons. Yes, I am counting webtoons. And honestly, if I ever get my hand on fanfiction this year, I will count it. Why? The answer is simple – I took the time to read it. So those will be counted. I read a total of 6,149 pages for 2022. This page count did not take into account webtoons. The medium does not have page counts – yes, I know, I need to track webtoons better.
The months where I read the most were October, November, and December. I discovered webtoons and manhwas in October. And I had weeks and days that those were the only things that consumed. No shame though. I enjoyed them immensely. I only put the completed webtoons and manhwas on my tracker. I need to make sure that I capture the ones that are still work in progress for this year. How am I going to do that? I have no idea. But I shall figure that out.
49% of what I read were webtoons/manhwa, followed by novels. And a lot of the stories I read in that format were Boys Love – so this genre was my most read at 49%. This genre was followed by Yaoi at 15%. I know, why not just combine them – I tend to associate Yaoi with Japanese manga. I don’t know, I’m debating if I should just merge them for 2023. Most likely.
I am not one to set a number of books to read in a year kind of person, 2023 is no different. I do not need added pressure to read more. I just want to enjoy whatever I read. I do want to read a bit more nonfiction and some classics as well. One thing is for sure though, I want to make sure to pick up 1984 and The Count of Monte Cristo this year.