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2025 Wrap Up

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I can’t say in all honestly that I’ll be looking back on 2025 fondly in the future. If I’m lucky, all of the bad parts of it will be gone from my brain with age. That being said, I am trying to be more mindful and count my blessings where they are. Instead of agonizing over not having drawn much this year, I’ll tell myself that I picked up other hobbies or games that deserved my attention and that the time was not wasted. Also, this was the first year I took my first steps towards doing something about that pesky old anxiety that has plagued me for uh, 25 years plus? That’s pretty cool!

Looking back at the stuff that made me happy this year- going out of state to visit some friends, attending a convention after a few years of non-attendance, took a Japanese class during the spring, learning how to skateboard, trying baking and new recipes that fell out of my comfort zone… I’m just glad these experiences brought me a lot of respite during what was frankly, an extremely mentally draining year. I’ll forever be grateful for the people in my life: my husband, my pet, my siblings, my friends (+ the insanity contained in the Sailer Discord) that got me through this mess of a year. Also, if you liked my art this year: I am grabbing your face and looking deeply into your eyes with gratitude. Creating has been harder than ever with the advent of AI slop, but if there’s any takeaway I’m getting from it is that it’s teaching me to appreciate all my favorite creators even more.

And now I’d like to talk about a handful of the cool stuff I enjoyed this year a little in depth, so without further ado!

Games:

• Silent Hill f: My game of the year, absolutely no questions asked. I know its reputation is a little polarizing in the fandom right now (but when have I really ever cared what the SH fandom thinks, if we’re being honest), but it scratched my brain in such a good way that I’m still thinking about it. Personally, I think Ryukishi07 nailed the subject matter he wanted to touch on regarding the treatment of women in 1960s Japan and Hinako’s journey for agency. The narrative did make me reflect on ways I was treated from the stages of a young girl to a woman, and how sadly a lot of things hadn’t changed despite me growing up from the 90s onward in a different country. Multiple runs of the game to unearth the story were kind of tedious, though I did it before the QoL options got patched in so I’m not sure how a full run of the game is like now. Also, Heather and Hinako would be best friends and even Ryukishi himself thinking the same makes me so damn happy.

• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth: I started this game on my birthday one year ago but got through the bulk of it this year, so I’ll count it for ‘25. One of the most fun JRPG experiences I had this year and I found myself booting the game up just to see Ichiban so he could get me through this dogshit year. While I found the game to be better mechanically in every way over LaD, I do feel that the narrative took a slight dip compared to its predecessor. Regardless, it was a good time! And I definitely don’t want to think too much about the hours I poured into Dondoko Island and how many times Gachapin and Mukku told me we were fucking under attack while Ichiban was trying to build a plastic lawn chair. or the times i thought about giving ichiban the sloppy toppy

• Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar: I feel weird adding a game I only just started playing in late November, but I already have nearly 120 hours in it so clearly this means something. SoS: Grand Bazaar is a remake of the DS game from 2008 with a bunch of bells, whistles, and much needed QoL features. It is also (to my knowledge) the only SoS game with voice acting, so it was really crazy to hear the characters actually talking for once. I never played the original due to it coming out when I was in high school and having limited allowance and that always bummed me out, since the online fandom loved the game and its characters- but now I could finally indulge. I had always wanted to marry Derek (Dirk in the original DS game) and now I did! The game also allows you to romance anyone you like and technically date everyone until you have to commit to one person for marriage. This meant that my farmer went for a pair of brothers, Ramona Flowers style. My questionable in-game actions aside, I had a great time with the game and the weekly bazaar mechanic is super addicting.

• Miitopia: I picked this up after watching Drawfee do their own stream of the game and thought, “I also want this to put a bunch of characters I know in Situations to laugh at”. The game itself is pretty fun, very much Baby’s First JRPG with comedy elements from Miis being there. It is weirdly long, though? Like it did not need to be THAT long, in my opinion. Still, the game was more than worth it just by the virtue of me streaming it for friends and it becoming “our show” for a few months. Team 3, which consisted of Buaner, Zidane Tribal, Moai, and Gundam Calibarn, were the best team and I’m still not hearing otherwise after all this time.

• Tamagotchi: I’m throwing them in here as a sort of game/sort of not game- I did end up playing one of the DS shop games and the new remake for the Switch a bit and bought a few actual Tamagotchis. How did I even get here? Probably from watching a ton of trinket collector Youtube videos that had Tamagotchi stuff, plus the Japanese Youtuber Dokomusu being a huge fan of the franchise and streaming the DS games for their 20th anniversary this year. I love Kuchipatchi. That’s all you need to know.

• Trimui Brick and Anbernic 5G40XVV: Finally got to try out some emulator devices this year, courtesy of Mint for the Brick and Rob lending me his Anbernic. These are super fun and portable and bring me back to the good ol’ days of carrying a game device on the go.

• Honorable mentions: Once Upon a Katamari, Hello Kitty Island Adventure, Tevi, REPO, Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya, and the Japanese version of Pokemon Yellow I booted up while I was studying JP.

TV shows/Movies:

• Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc: The fact that I went to a movie theater for the first time in god knows how long to watch this is a testament to how good it was. I will say that maybe… 60% of the real reason I wanted to watch it at first was because I NEEDED to hear JANE DOE by Utada Hikaru and Kenshi Yonezu (I’ll expand on this later, trust me) on premium theater speakers, but I do actually like CSM and thought the movie looked good from the previews. Everything from the quiet moments between the characters to the insanely explosive (no pun intended) fight sequences has stayed in my brain. My favorite is still the moments between Denji and Reze, that sort of playful, coy, flirting between two teens who are just in the early throes of a crush and desperately deserve this normal moment (even if it sadly doesn’t last very long). And then the doomed yaoi. The doomed yaoi.

• Sinners: I’m so happy to have experienced this movie and shared that experience with friends this year. I watched it hot off of finishing Pat Stares At’s sub incentive Bioshock “Racism Goes Both Ways” Infinite playthrough, which chipped away at my damn sanity with every episode. It was the chaser I absolutely needed after that shitshow of a story. And it had everything I needed! Southern Gothic, hot people, vampires, racists getting their shit kicked in, good music, you name it. Ryan Coogler being inspired by a very good Twilight Zone episode also added to my love for this film. A definite must see.

• Sonic the Hedgehog 3: “You only wanted to watch this because Shadow is in it and he’s voiced by Keanu Reeves!” Yeah. And? I know people say the Sonic movies have been pretty good so far, but I’ve never been into Sonic when he has to hang out with human OC characters (thinking back to my Sonic X days, I also didn’t like that show either), so I ignored the first two movies. Thankfully the focus is on the funny animals and not them in this installment. The Chao cafe scene may have added a small handful of years to my life.

• Kpop Demon Hunters: A good fun ride, visually and musically. It’s been funny seeing a lot of parents say their kids are obsessed with the movie and they’re sick of having to hear the soundtrack multiple times a day and all I can say to that is: I wish I had your problem!!

• Panty and Stocking New: In the time that this series has been dormant, I’ve moved 4 times, dated my now husband and got married, finished school, and entered my 30s. To say that I’ve been waiting for this (/Akihiko voice) and am so truly happy it finally exists is an understatement. The Demon Sisters getting way more screentime nourished me plenty and of course, I love the Backshot Bros and their amazing theme song. Ough. And we’re still getting another season. Still feels surreal.

• Chiikawa Season 2: More Chiikawa, not complaining. I’m mostly mentioning it because my friends also started watching Chiikawa and now we keep up with episodes weekly which makes it so much more fun.

• My Melody and Kuromi: Made by the same director as the Pui Pui Molcar series, I knew I had to watch this when it dropped. Super well made! I also loved the LE SSERAFIM ending theme and I’m never going to forget that a show as cute as this had a zombie cannibalism scene.

• Home Movies: By no means a new show and I debated adding it onto here because of that, but I rewatched almost every episode multiple times during the summer and it quickly became a comfort watch. I used to hate it when I was little because I didn’t understand the humor, but now I do! And it’s great! I know a lot of the creators from this show have since moved on to Bob’s Burgers, but I really think this was their best gig.

• Sailor Moon The Super Live: This was technically a musical that I had to attend in person but I’m throwing it in here anyway. A personal highlight of my 2025, the actresses all put on a fantastic show and it’s still wild to me we got this show to happen in the States at all. I went with my friend’s wife and we had a great time! I’ll never forget singing along to Moonlight Densetsu with the crowd while shaking my pen light, it was a deeply cathartic moment for someone who has loved Sailor Moon since they were 6 years old.

Honorable mentions: Onegai My Melody, NANA, Twisted Wonderland The Animation: Episode Heartslabyul (Would have written about this one but I only got 2 episodes in and have to finish it later)

Music:

• “JANE DOE” by Kenshi Yonezu and Utada Hikaru: I am not kidding when I say this song is one of the best things to have happened to me this entire year. Utada Hikaru, the vocal powerhouse that they are, singing with Kenshi “I can sing, I can draw, and I make bangers” Yonezu? I didn’t even have to hear the song at first to know what we were getting was going to be incredible. This is not to put any disrespect on “IRIS OUT” which released alongside “JANE DOE" for the CSM movie, I just prefer the moody ballad with two of my favorite artists. It was my “look somberly out the bus window on this autumnal day” song for an entire month. To be a fly on the wall in the recording booth when Utada and Kenshi were working on this, tbh.

• Panty and Stocking New Soundtrack: Divine, divine, divine. It’s crazy how much Divine took control of my frontal lobe for 4 months straight. My only complaint was that the full OST didn’t drop until late September after the show ended, robbing it of the opportunity to be a perfect summer time album. Listen to “Daten City Lights” and tell me that isn’t a good “driving on a highway during a warm July night” background track!

• Once Upon a Katamari Soundtrack: You put chelmico, DAOKO, Kocchi no Kento, suis (vocalist of Yorushika) on a game soundtrack, I am seated immediately. And I was not disappointed.

• “I Love My Computer” by Ninajirachi: Recommended to me by fellow Sailer, Mint and quickly became one of my favorite summer time listens. “All I Am” and “Battery Death” were on repeat constantly on my way back home from work.

*Honorable mentions: “SEQUENCE 01.5 (dreaming of the 2nd 1st impact – consequences of fate redux) by f5ve, “wo ai ni” by WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA, “Pickles” by Kocchi no Kento, “Get Higher” by Creepy Nuts, and “PARTY OF YOUR LIFETIME” by On-lyne.

Miscellaneous Cool Things:

And that’s it! This went on a lot longer than I originally intended, but it’s okay. That just means I got to enjoy a lot of cool stuff, which I totally needed to endure 2025 anyway. I hope I can have a little more momentum with creative stuff this year and try some new things as well (I downloaded Blender. Scary…). Here’s hoping next year is a little kinder to everyone.