Need to write something, I haven't updated this web site in ages! Well I've graduated with a 2:1 in history and got a good mark on my dissertation despite NO help from my supervisor which I'm happy about, as part of my motivation to do well was a "fine I didn't need your help anyway" attitude. I'm kicking about now until the graduation ceremony but the lack of routine is most unusual to me, every year for as long as I can remember the lack of routine during the summer was temporary until September which rang in the start of the academic year, but now there is no telling when I will find a job! Lots of beer and mead will be consumed in the meantime.
Spring 2006 was a legendary season for anime, so in Spring 2026 I decided to have some fun and follow along some shows from that season I hadn't seen on a weekly basis. I've really been enjoying this and it is the only weekly routine I have now that I've graduated. I think I should have rewatched Haruhi as part of this, but I didn't because all I seem to do these days is rewatch stuff. I like watching on a weekly basis but I don't like current seasonals so I am considering keeping this up for a while. That said, Summer 2006 was a fucking desert for good anime compared to the seasons before and after, NHK ni Youkoso shines above the rest but I can't add another rewatch to the pile. I got half way through Le Chevalier d'Eon's first episode before realising this is just going to be some Moriarty the Patriot-esque historical fanfiction where everyone ever gets together and does some ahistorical bullshit to annoy me; Kemonozume might be something from this season I'll watch but it's a late starter so I'll have to wait until August. Thankfully, in 2006 26 episode shows were still the norm so the Spring lot will carry me through until Autumn. It's crazy that I've created such a bubble for myself to live in that I'm getting hyped for shows that came out 20 years ago, but I just can't get this excited about the shiny new stuff coming out currently, like holy shit please stop pumping out isekai! Admittedly Summer 2026 is the first season in a few years that has actually had not just one, but two shows that I miiiggghhttt consider watching, namely The Ghost in The Shell and Sayonara Lara. That said I'm pretty distrustful of remakes in the case of the former, (ever since the abomination that is Urusei Yatsura 2022) but Sayonara Lara's poster and trailer gave me the impression of an oldschool World Masterpiece Theater style of show.
I think my favourite Spring seasonal so far has been the second season of Ah! My Goddess, besides the improvement in production quality the episodic stories have been a lot more interesting and the show makes watching an already established romantic relationship between the lead characters entertaining without it being melodramatic, it's just a nice show to chill out with. Discussing xxxHolic with my friend Nate who has read the manga has also been fun, although I'm hoping that some kind of overarching story emerges. I didn't get past the first episode of Utawarerumono because I had no clue what was going on, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni only survived a few weeks purely off of the good reputation of it's VN which I don't think the anime deserves, definitely the worst looking show this season quality-wise as well.