April 27th - May 2nd 2026

TV

• Daemons of the Shadow Realm | Bones Film - From the FMA creator! One of the most compelling opening episodes I have seen in a loooooong time. Also, the girl Daemon is hot, so it’s all good over here.
• Mao | Sunrise - If you miss late 90s and early 00s anime art style, tropes, and motifs, then check-out Inuyasha redeux, but this time a cat! God I miss monster of the week everything.
• Kirio Fan Club | Satelight - Silly and compelling slice-of-life with fun main character dynamics!
• Negima!? | Shaft, GANSIS - Best opening episode of an anime all-time.
• My Dress-Up Darling | | Season 2 - Masterpiece. I think they screwed up the ending, but every other second was masterful and I’m so so so happy it exists. Full review up here.
• Botan Kamina Fully Blossoms While Drunk | Soigne - Garbage.

Music

• Doomed | Maphra - Moody.
• Dance the Pain Away | Haute & Freddy - What a fucking vibe. Can’t stop dancing in the car now.
• Lucky Again | Lykke Li - Just cool girl music.
• Mon Amour | Jessie Ware - Whole album has a retro-80’s big vocals vibe.
• Xam Xam | Cheikh Ibra Fam - Whole album slaps. The best mix of Afro-Cuban beats.

Podcasts

• So far, the new Xbox boss is saying (and doing) the right things | Friends Per Second #93 - I adore this podcast as a SkillUp fan, and on this episode they interview a director of Sauros and the main developer of Titanium Court, both worth listening to!

News/Essays

• How China’s Deaf Delivery Riders Find a New Life in Gig Work | Sixth Tone | Qian Linliang - Avoiding the trope of gig economy as freeing or a libertarian wet dream, much like the pandemic these scenarios reveal interesting insights into disability. While we would never choose a pandemic, it did force billions of people to reckon with work-from-home, and the trade-offs therein. In a similar fashion, the accessibility of app-based, e-commerce has a strange level of accessibility compared to factory work, which is worth noting. It is always worrisome when an already precarious professions successfully, whether intentionally or not, captures a new set of workers, so there is a balance here with the profound positive changes these drivers have experienced socially and professionally.
• Magic: The Gathering Arena Team Unionizes At Wizards of the Coast | Aftermath | Nicole Carpenter - Some more good news! The contract fight after are anything but easy, but at least this sends a message and hopefully the momentum continues onward.

Books/Manga

• Vampeerz | Alkili | Volumes 3-5 - Updated review with these volumes is now up! Check it out. The tl;dr is that this series just gets better and better. The intimacy is wetter, it gets some shonen-y elements, and the world-building takes off. Not that it really needs any of this, but I have grown sooooo much more invested into these characters and their relationship. Honestly, it feels like they are really getting fleshed out in a full way, like the author really knows who they are now.
• Cyberpunk 2077: No_Coincidence | Rafat Kosik - I finished it finally. Check out the full review, it’s so many words of how terrible it was. Luckily, that means it’s more enjoyable than the book.

YouTube

• THIS is hy you NEED an Xbox Series S | Dammit Jeff - An emulation monster, I had no idea!
• I Made My Own Animal Crossing Switch for Just $35 | Dammit Jeff - I get suckered into exclusive releases, so this was an excellent watch to DIY!
• Why life looks so ugly now | Morning Brew - An excellent short-ish educational video on why LEDs are fucking us up.