By late April, I finally started writing the March monthly log…
Structure
-
Input
Reading: professional books / novels / good articles, all counted as reading
Anime: seasonal shows / older shows, TV / movies, record what I watched
Others: movies, TV series, etc. -
Thoughts
Maybe I’ll write down some thoughts -
Output
Maybe blog posts. But I’m too noob; maybe I won’t output anything for a whole month ( -
Travel
If I went somewhere, I’ll write it down. If not, whatever. -
Misc
Random stuff that doesn’t fit the categories above
Input
Reading
Been a bit busy, and I feel like I don’t have much energy for reading. Recently I’ve only been reading one book: 松本行弘的程序世界.
It’s written by Yukihiro Matsumoto (the creator of Ruby). The quality is unquestionable. It introduces some fundamental concepts in programming from a high-level perspective, like OOP and design patterns.
What’s rare is that the author doesn’t just explain what a concept is (What), but also brings in history to explain why it appeared and why we need it (Why).
For someone like me who came into CS from the side, this kind of outline-and-guidance book is quite helpful.
After reading the first few chapters, I feel I understand concepts like dynamic vs static languages, OOP, inheritance a bit better (though I still can’t explain them crisply).
In March I only finished about half of it here and there. In April I finally finished one pass, but some later parts weren’t very clear to me and felt a bit too deep for now.
Maybe later I’ll write a separate blog post with notes and reflections.
Anime
-
New shows in March
-
迷宫饭/ダンジョン飯
Good reputation, so I checked it out. It’s genuinely fun.
Not the usual dungeon combat adventure, and the main party isn’t all about raw power either.
Instead it introduces the dungeon ecology through the lens of the protagonists eating their way through it, with a peaceful slice-of-life(?) vibe.
But around episodes 11 and 12, the plot suddenly accelerates. After encountering the red dragon, I thought it was the ending, but it turned out to be just the start of the next arc.
Looked it up: it’s a two-cour show. Great, I can keep watching next season. Produced by Trigger, stable quality. Recommended. -
药物少女的呢喃/薬屋少女のひとりごと
Very good word of mouth; OP1 is catchy.
The story is also quite interesting. I usually have little interest in anime with a Chinese palace setting, but this one was unexpectedly pretty good. I can accept it.
Binged season 1 in two days. Haven’t continued season 2 yet, but I’ll probably finish it later.
-
-
Finished
-
僕の心のヤバイやつ
Started last month and then kept up weekly. Excellent production, delicate emotions, and a good ending. Recommended. -
狩龙人拉格纳
Interesting story. Sadly the production quality in the second half (by Silver Link) dropped, but still recommendable. -
愚蠢天使与恶魔共舞
As a comedy, it’s solid. Not bad. -
事与愿违的不死冒险者（望まぬ不死の冒険者）
Has some plot. Fine. Finished it. -
治愈魔法的错误使用方法
Has some plot. Fine. Finished it.
-
-
Dropped / didn’t finish
-
勇气爆发 Bang Bravern
The early “bits” were funny, but after 4-5 episodes I got aesthetic fatigue and didn’t continue. -
我独自升级
Only the animation is watchable. Dropped after 4-5 episodes. -
反派大小姐等级99～我是隐藏BOSS但不是魔王～（悪役令嬢レベル99～私は裏ボスですが魔王ではありません～）
Watched 7-8 episodes; don’t really feel like picking it up again. -
金属口红
Script wasted the production.
-
-
Want to watch but haven’t yet
-
不死不幸
Added to the watchlist. -
葬送的芙莉莲
Added to the watchlist. -
SYNDUALITY Noir 第2クール
Heard the story isn’t great. Maybe I’ll watch, maybe not. -
佐佐木与文鸟小哔
Heard there’s nothing special. Might drop it.
-
Others
Movies/TV I watched recently. I’ll try to avoid spoilers.
-
機動戦士ガンダム SEED FREEDOM
New Gundam movie. It took so long that it feels like it’s almost out of theaters.
3D tech helps mecha anime a lot. There are so many hard edges and lines on the mecha; hand-drawing it is just too painful.
The movie starts with a big mecha battle right away: the camera flies everywhere, and the mecha looks detailed from all angles. Praise 3D-to-2D.
Not much to say about the plot; it goes full fantasy. Gundams and starships explode like dumplings being dumped into a pot. It’s satisfying, at least. -
狼と香辛料 先行上映会
The remake starts airing in April. They bundled the first 4 episodes together and made a theatrical cut. It’s obviously a cash grab (
But“Look, there’s a pit. I jump.”
”Shut up and take my money!” -
デッドデッドデーモンズデデデデデストラクション 前章
Abbrev:デデデデ. Invasion, end of the world, UFOs, aliens, overflowing with elements.
As the plot unfolds, more mysteries appear. Looking forward to how the latter part develops.
Interesting worldbuilding, cute character designs, plus points for the BGM. Very much on my wavelength. -
南極料理人
The characters eat pretty well in Antarctica. I just don’t understand the obsession with ramen. -
秒速5センチメートル
My first Shinkai film was Your Name. The strongest impression was: “love across time and space, so romantic.”
Compared to Your Name, 5 Centimeters per Second is much more plain: an ordinary life that anyone could experience. But that plainness hits the heart more easily.
If I hadn’t watched 5 Centimeters per Second, my favorite Shinkai work would probably still be Your Name. -
響け！ユーフォニアム 久美子2年生編
Hibike! Euphonium is famous, but I never watched it.
Watching the movies without knowing the story at all was kinda bold. I treated it as supporting Kyoto Animation.
This “reheated rice” was a double-feature: 『劇場版 響け！ユーフォニアム～誓いのフィナーレ～』＆『特別編 響け！ユーフォニアム～アンサンブルコンテスト～』
Over two hours total. Even without watching the TV series, I enjoyed it a lot. Quite interesting, not bad.
Thoughts
I had quite a few thoughts, but they don’t seem like things I can put on the internet. So I can only sigh lightly: life is hard.
Output
Note: Setting Up a Keychron Keyboard
In March I managed to “water” (i.e. half-ass) one blog post, recording the process of configuring a Keychorn keyboard.
Travel
March unexpectedly had quite a few trips.
台场高达
Went to Odaiba to see the Gundam. Such a huge robot, and it even moves.
Unfortunately I went in the daytime. There’s a performance only once every 2-3 hours, and it was just the Gundam transforming and then it ended. The night show is richer and also uses the big screen.
I’ve only watched SEED, so I couldn’t even recognize the name of this Gundam. Shame (
狼と香辛料 先行上映会
The Spice and Wolf early screening: the Ikebukuro session came with a voice-actor greeting event, but it required lottery selection.
I was just joining for fun and didn’t have much hope, but I actually won.
So on Sunday I went to Ikebukuro specifically for the screening. First time attending this kind of event; it felt pretty fresh.
樱花
Speaking of spring in Japan, of course you can’t miss cherry blossoms.
But this spring seemed a bit cold. Even by late March, cherry blossoms in most parts of Tokyo hadn’t really bloomed.
Still, there were a few spots with decent blooms, so I took some photos.
散步
Nice weekend weather, took a walk along the river.
Misc
花粉症
It’s said that Chinese people in Japan have three “must-haves”: an Alphard, a detached house, and… hay fever 😷
I didn’t expect to get hay fever after just one year in Japan, and the symptoms were pretty severe. I went to a doctor and got prescription meds.
From now on, every spring I’ll have to take meds on time just to barely pretend to be a normal person (
结语
Next I should write the April summary, even though I just finished the March one.
My procrastination is too serious. I need to find a way to fix it.