Here is where I will put reviews for interesting things I've seen, read, played, etc.
Played(finished): 2/5/2026 Reviewed: 2/7/2026 Rating: genes/10
I've always had an interest in the Metal Gear series and it's themes, messages, and awesome story, so fairly recently, I decided to play through the whole series. After trying and failing to get through Metal Gear 1(likely do to having played the masterpiece Deus Ex immediately prior), I amended my goal to start at Metal Gear Solid. This game was awesome. It wasn't without its flaws, but I loved playing around 90% of it. The story had me engrossed for the entire playtime and much of the gameplay was very fun and challenging. Additionally, the atmosphere of playing the game was incredible. Kojima's legendary game and story design were super cool to experience for myself after having heard of them for so long. The only shortcomings I really noticed were the boss design at times--a nitpick--and a certain minigame that I loathed. My favorite part of this game was how it really feels like you're inside a super interesting story with cool twists and filled with realism. This was definitely aided by the fact that I beat the game in only a couple days, although it is not long at all.
SPOILERS
The boss fights in this game, which made up a decent chunk of it, were a great experience, but did feel a little repetitive and at times slow, especially Revolver Ocelot, the second Vulcan Raven fight, and everything with Liquid. Pretty much the only things I did not enjoy about this game were every liquid fight(particularly the last two), and the evil button mashing torture game. I understand that you're able to skip past this minigame that was conceived by Satan himself, but I refused to swallow my pride and accelerated my eventual fate of carpal tunnel by doing so. Even with that though, the story more than made up for it, with cool twists like the secretary of defense being behind much of the plot, the whole bit with FoxDie(which had to have included about 100 mentions of the word "genes," and Liquid/Ocelot's plan connected back to Outer Heaven.
Playing through Metal Gear Solid has made me thoroughly look forward to continuing the series, both for the story, and for the gameplay. I'm very excited to see what the games' messages as I already think those from the first game are super well done and highly applicable, which I definitely value. I would recommend this game to just about anyone that has any interest in the series and is willing to hear what it has to say, especially if you enjoy stealth and puzzle games.
Watched(finished): 1/15/2026 Reviewed: 2/7/2026 Rating: huh/10
Knowing of Madoka Magica's famous subversion of expectations beforehand, thankfully, failed to dull the many very cool twists of this show. The show was very interesting throughout and I was consistently engaged in the story and characters, who were quite well written. It goes without saying, but the best way to experience Madoka Magica is as blind as possible, as it's a super cool time to watch as all the aspects of the world are gradually explained and interconnected. In fact, I don't think there was any point where I wasn't particularly excited or interested to see the next episode and what it had to show. The basic premise of the show is that it follows an especially interesting period in the life of a middle schooler named Madoka, but just about everything you see has more to it than meets the eye.
SPOILERS
My favorite part of this show was probably the twist that the time period of the show had occurred many times before on account of it being reset by Homura. I also really enjoyed how they gave a consistent explanation for why magical girls were being created by the incubator race; I love speculative future technology levels and as such, I found the motivation of energy being depleted due to entropy to be awesome, albeit slightly farfetched scientifically in some spots. That being said, some of the twists felt a little foreseeable, such as Kyubey being an antagonist, or Homura knowing Madoka beforehand, not that that really weakens them though. I was also a little disappointed with how Junko's/Madoka's mom's story turned out in the end. She was introduced and continued to be painted as this totally awesome mom, but didn't get to help her daughter in the end, culminating in a strange scene on a staircase where she allowed Madoka to go into the evil thing that kills you. I also thought that the wish that Madoka ended up making was a little odd, and a much better ending, although more series concluding which I don't think was the goal, could have been achieved if she wishes for a world without magical girls, or for the incubators to leave earth alone even. The timeline at the end(and by extension through Rebellion) was a bit confusing, but I'm excited to see where it goes next.
For better or for worse, I can't really discuss many details without damaging the adventure that is this show. However, I did like it overall, even with some minor qualms, and would recommend people to check it out. Madoka Magica does a wonderful job of making compelling characters, having emotion-evoking scenes, and setting up a very unique universe. I look forward to what comes next in the series, and if you enjoy heavily character-driven, mysterious, and dark plots, give it a shot.
Watched: 1/8/2026 Reviewed: 1/17/2026 Rating: I like the blue people/10
Watching Avatar 3 in IMAX was an amazing experience, and I can definitely see why it's said to be the definitive way to watch the film. As with the other installments in the series, it was stunning and wildly immersive. Even with the daunting run time of nearly 200 minutes, there was no point where I felt like it had been going on for too long. I had rewatched the first two movies before seeing this in theaters, and in comparison I think this was probably the strongest so far. Avatar: The Way of Water was a great film, but I felt the introduction of so many more characters made each one seem more bland. As such, it was great to see the different members of the Sully family get more characterization, particularly Spider and Lo'ak. That being said, the Avatar series does feel a bit predictable at times and, while certainly varied, each movie has a similar plot and basic formula. But if you go in with that understanding, it was a very engrossing and enjoyable watch.
SPOILERS
The introduction of more tribes of Na'vi was cool to see as the planet becomes more and more fleshed out. The Mangkwan/ash people were a great twist on this as they're very different from the rest of the tribes shown. I really enjoyed seeing how they interacted with Quaritch and his folks as it added some cool and complex dynamics to the story. The movie was filled with so many cool moments, but on the same note of the movies being somewhat predictable, the stakes feel sort of low at this point. While there were some impactful deaths in this film, along with much more on Neteyam's death from the second installment, I think it could have benefited from a "bad" ending. It's always very entertaining and satisfying to see nature prevail in the climaxes of each movie, but I think it could have made the overarching story more interesting if Quaritch allying with the Mangkwan led to a victory for their side. Even with that though, it is cool to see hints at a moral conflict going on within Quaritch and I'm interested to see where that may go in the future movies.
Despite its flaws, this movie was so incredibly awesome to watch: it was beautiful, it did a great job of picking up right where the last movie left off, and I overall feel much more interesting in each of the many characters. I greatly recommend the series as a whole, if only for the commendable worldbuilding on Cameron's part, but they are genuinely great movies and deserving of the hype behind them.
Image credit: ThatOneGuy'sAnimations
Watched(finished): 1/5/2026? Reviewed: 1/17/2026 Rating: cool/10
I came into this show not really knowing what to expect as I decided to watch it mostly based on just seeing the visuals and reading a basic description. Gachiakuta doesn't do that much story wise that I haven't seen before, but it does have a very interesting power system and a great vibe to it. As the visuals are what initially hooked me, I really enjoyed the style of all the characters, along with the hip-hop and metal inspired soundtrack. The basic premise of the show consists of a boy who loves trash getting kicked off an island in the sky(called the sphere) and joining up with a group of people that fight giant trash monsters using items that they really like. While that may make the show seem a bit ridiculous(which it is at times), it was a very enjoyable experience, aided by the fact that I was building model kits while I watched most of it. Characters getting their powers from caring for an item is a quite unique system that got me excited every time a fight started to see what interesting abilities people had.
SPOILERS
Even while not feeling like the most original thing in the world, the story was quite engrossing, particularly parts pertaining to the Watchman series--a group of items of elevated power related to a really big scary guy that doesn't like it when people go between the sphere and the ground. That being said, I was disappointed to see how low the stakes were in the show. Several fights were made out to seem like a character--at times one that was pretty important--was going to die, but turned out fine in the end somehow. I really hope that going forward this theme doesn't persist as it could really dull the battles, which are one of the main aspects of the show.
The first season of Gachiakuta was very entertaining and has hooked me enough to be excited for what is to come in later seasons. As mentioned previously, the visual and soundtrack are some of the show's strongest aspects, and I've found myself listening to music from it quite a lot. If shonen series aren't your cup of tea, I wouldn't really recommend this show, but otherwise it's an enjoyable watch and is pretty fun and definitely worth giving a shot.
Watched: 1/1/2026 Reviewed: 1/17/2026 Rating: woah/10
Angel's Egg was one of the most interesting films I've ever watched. There are very few lines of dialogue and the majority of the movie is surrealist imagery. Even with this I was kept on the edge of my seat throughout and it actually made what dialogue there was far more impactful. As one could assume from the title, Angel's Egg is deeply rooted with biblical allusions and themes, particularly those pertaining to the great flood. The basic story follows a young girl with a mysterious egg traveling through a strange world, encountering a cross-bearing man along the way that follows her around. I'm sure I didn't get nearly all of what the movie had and feel I would need to watch it several times more to actually understand it--a necessity that the intrigue and complex analysis potential makes quite appealing. Although hard to fully comprehend, the movie does feel quite complete and does a great job of tying things together while delivering powerful messages.
SPOILERS
My favorite parts of this film were definitely the biblical aspects as they were, in my opinion, the most well done pieces of the film. In particular, the cross-bearing man tells of a bird--an allegory of the dove sent by God to seek Noah--failing to return following a flood-like disaster. This culminates in a climactic scene where a shocking visual of the skeletal remains of the bird is wonderfully accompanied by a dramatic soundtrack. This is aided by a scene in which the cross-bearing man recites a section of scripture over related visuals in the odd landscape the characters traverse, which is a trope I really like to see. Throughout the film, the young girl on several occasions holds the egg within her dress, creating a visual akin to a pregnant woman. One of the final scenes of the film is similarly powerful, depicting the young girl falling down a chasm while chasing the man after he had smashed the egg, presumably out of interest of its contents. In her fall, she seemingly matures to an adult form and feels her flat stomach. I saw this as being about the loss of a child, which very well could have been another piece adding to a motif of dark or failed biblical interpretations.
Overall, I loved this movie and will be undoubtably seeing it again, possibly adding to this review afterwards. Watching this ignited an interest in surrealism and more abstract film, and as such I plan to seek out more pieces like this. Angel's Egg is quite artsy, and implicit with its messaging, so while I'd recommend it in a heartbeat, its certainly not for everyone. The movie feels very much like something you'd see in a modern art exhibit, so if that, and pieces with deep analysis potential, are something you enjoy, definitely check this out.
Watched: 1/1/2026 Reviewed: 1/17/2026 Rating: sick/10
I quite enjoyed watching this movie and thought it was a solid continuation of Chainsaw Man. As it had been around three years since I watched the show, it was cool to be re-emersed and excited for what is to come. It was especially cool to have an arc so focused on Denji and I really enjoyed the beautifully animated sequences of him and Reze. The power system in the series is one of the coolest I've seen, and while the fights are awesome, it was nice to have such a large portion of the movie just be character interaction. I don't know for certain if this did too much to progress the overarching story, sans one major bit. Regardless, it was for sure super entertaining, had loads of cool and fun moments, and gave plenty of screen time to beam, who is possibly the greatest guy.
SPOILERS
Reze being an agent of the gun devil and being the bomb devil was an awesome twist, albeit not too surprising due to hints like images of a spider wrapping prey during the pool sequence. Additionally, the side plot with the angel devil did a great job of giving him some more characterization, which I felt was somewhat lacking in the first season of the show.
Even with a large portion of the movie not having any action, at least in the traditional sense (not a bad thing at all), they threw in a phenomenal and climactic fight, which featured the funny shark man. All in all, this was a very good movie, and I'd certainly recommend it (and the series as a whole by extension) if you enjoy quasi-dystopian and mysterious themes and epic action sequences, with some great comedy sprinkled in.
