Everyone is doing end-of-year lists of their top faves. I’ve been engaging with so much media this year it’s almost hard to keep track of what I’d consider the best for me. That’s not a bad thing! It’s been nice just sitting back and experiencing some stuff, and I keep hoping something will inspire that creative spark in me to get back into making art myself sometime. Anyway! Here’s a bunch of things I picked up this year and I wanna ramble about in a place that’s not just in my groupchats or my media journal!!
The first season of Twisted Wonderland‘s anime adaptation happened. It definitely wasn’t a flawless one (some of the art quality after episode 1 got pretty shifty at times), but overall I had an absolute blast watching it. I speak with full bias though; I’ve been head over heels for the game since way back when I started it a few years ago. I also forced my friends to watch it with me every week and it was so fun!! Loved how they brought music from the game into it and I adored how the magic sounded; it reminded me of the sound effects for all the sparkly fun in magical girl anime ✨ I’m excitedly waiting for news about when season 2 will happen.
Also, can I just point out I was pleasantly surprised by Malleus’s dub voice? I have some beef with several of the EN cast (never forgiving one making fun of older women/moms coming up to him at cons), but it’s not like I’m actively watching that version. Anyway. Good on the guy cast for Malleus! It’s basically his breakout role and I actively lost it when he posted on Twitter his account name being ‘Malleyuu.’ You just cannot make this shit up.
Tamon’s B-Side will have the anime adaptation air in just a little over a day!! I honestly didn’t think I’d enjoy reading this one that much but it is so goofy at times and the amount of whiplash over the gap moe of the various characters… perfection. Utage is such a lovely protag and I love her unconditional support for her oshi (also all of her motivation being entirely because of him… she’s so real). And of course, I adore Tamon because I too like to lay on the floor and rot until mushrooms sprout upon my body :’) For real though, I had so many moments where I stopped and shared panels with my friends because we could all vibe with what he said.
I wasn’t expecting to get hit in the feelios that much with this one but it does a nice job of balancing out the comedy with the (much rarer) drama. The art is also so cute??? Definitely surprised I enjoyed this one as much as I did but now I’m regularly keeping up with releases for this (which feels so weird; I haven’t done that since back in the days when KHR! was still coming out). Anyway, this is definitely one I’m forcing my friends to watch with me as it airs because I just know they’ll get a kick out of it.
I’m gonna be so for real with you: I haven’t even touched the manga for Honey Lemon Soda. I know it’s ridiculously popular in Japan!! I know it’s been one of the best selling shoujo manga for several years now!! But I am lazy!!!! Anyway this is the shy girl rep we needed. It gets so painfully awkward at times watching this but I can absolutely see myself in Uka and the way she goes about situations and honestly? I really would’ve benefitted from having someone like Kai there for me at that age. Perhaps this is why I get so cringe watching some scenes, they just reflect back at me.
JC Staff worked on this and I am never forgiving them for some past transgressions when it comes to adapting shoujosei stuff (oh no I just realized they’re doing Tamon up there), but this felt so much less awful and was honestly not that bad. Some scenes in here I really had to stop and appreciate-the relay race was beautifully done with the shift in color palette as Uka ran towards Kai like??? Damn. The music was also beautiful; the recurring piano theme during calmer moments was just perfect. Also, I’d argue this has one of the most banger combos of opening and ending themes out of anything released all year. I’m not big on the Jpop boyband thing but these were catchy as hell and earned a spot on my playlist.
Listen. Boys get their power fulfillment fantasies in anime all the goddamn time. The shoujo girlies deserve to have that shit, too, and by god did May I Ask For One Final Thing? deliver. I should’ve known I’d adore this just by the opening where Scarlet gleefully (and violently) spins around people in a ballroom. Watching a girl go absolutely ham with her fists on everything in her way is just so satisfying (especially when the majority are rich assholes). The animation was beautiful in this all the way through.
I think the last episode was hit or miss with people if the discussions on Anilist are anything to go by, but it felt satisfying and I honestly thought the season did a good job leading up to it with some pretty lowkey hinting at how Scarlet and Julius feel for each other. Also, I’m just a sucker for pretty boys who like to troll people I guess, IDFK. This was such a fun watch and I binged it with a friend the other night; we spent the entire 3 hours just cackling over everything.
Honorable mentions: me finally reading From Far Away (feel free to shame me!! please do, actually!!), having a good laugh with The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess, and to Murai in Love for being so silly but so low budget and me still enjoying the hell out of it anyway. I also read Requiem of the Rose King which hurt me so good (the anime was not so good). I did quite a bit of reading in terms of manga and also tackled a couple of anthologies, some non-fiction, short stories, and a novel or two, but nothing really stood out to me too much from it all.
Music-wise, we had so many good drops this year. Saya Grey’s debut album, Patrick Wolf’s first album in 13 years, Kathryn Joseph’s ambient WE WERE MADE PREY., fresh releases from Sleigh Bells, The Last Dinner Party, wet leg, SIRUP, so many more… I honestly couldn’t even list everything I enjoyed this year, but we’ve been eating good. 2025 may have been a miserable time for many of us, but at least on this front things were amazing.
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