Link of the Day [5.19.26]

broderic on May 19, 2026

I don’t know, but I find it easy to watch Nogizaka46 concerts from here in the US. What are people complaining about with J-Pop music. In fact, this morning I saw the first day of Nogizaka46’s 14th Year Birthday Live, and I’ll be watching the next two as well.

I guess it is almost impossible to get tickets to a show in Japan? That’s true. I’ve long wanted to go, but never have the courage to go. Plus it is impossible to get them because of the weird lottery rules and hoops to jump through. Is it worth it to lock down how to retrieve tickets? Make it difficult to get them? Or how about make them expensive with ticket scalpers and such?

Either way I am not getting to see Nogizaka46 live and in person in my lifetime.

https://unseen-japan.com/japanese-music-foreign-fans-barriers/?utm_content=buffer29c8b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=x&utm_campaign=buffer

Project Hail Mary

broderic on May 9, 2026

Project Hail Mary is a fine movie. It reminds me of early 2000s films. I wish we got more like this — something that all audiences can enjoy. Though it sounds nice, there is a danger to that thinking. What we’ll end up getting is something we’ll forget about days after watching.

I post this review several weeks after having seen it in the theaters. I can’t remember much. It was enjoyable at the time, but now it is just a blur. I wish we’d get a BluRay of this. I doubt we’ll get one. Physical media was great. The world burns…

3 of 5 stars.

Hoppers

broderic on May 8, 2026

Hoppers is straight up madness. Here’s the plot: the main character uses an invention to “hop” into a beaver robot to save her favorite pond. She gets to meet the animals who act like animals, then the animal council shows up and takes the madness up a notch.

I’m writing this review vaguely remembering what anything was. All I can do though is to implore you to give it a watch, and you’ll see and experience the madness, too.

3 of 5 stars.

Wuthering Heights

broderic on May 8, 2026

Wuthering Heights movie opened on Valentine’s Day 2026. It was marketed as a romance. This movie ended in tragedy. Then I read the Wikipedia page and the book actually is even more tragic and awful than this movie.

Awful is the key word here. I didn’t enjoy it one bit. There’s no romance at all. There’s no predestined love. It is a story that just makes you cringe. The movie did as well.

One thing about it was the staging. Very much trying to be flashy and stylized. It turned out rather gimmicky.

I don’t think I was the target audience.

2 of 5 stars.

Haruhi-ism @ 20

broderic on April 1, 2026

I ran across this YouTube video this morning. It’s been twenty years since the first broadcst of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. TWENTY YEARS! For me it’s only been nineteen because at that time the lag between DVD release in America, but still, how time flies!

It is still my most favorite anime ever. Let’s all watch it again in Kyon Order.

GOAT

broderic on March 6, 2026

I thought GOAT would be the G.O.A.T., but sadly, I was wrong. It made plenty of money its first weeks out in theaters which made me hopeful for a good animated movie like we had when Pixar ruled the silver screen.

Nope. Not the case.

The story was shallow. The motivation of the characters, the portrayal of them, and their story resolutions were all very shallow. There was barely any substance to it. Many platitudes to make your eyes roll. It was a boring. It tread very familiar territory.

So I wonder why it was pulling in the numbers? Are we thirsty for entertainment? Is this all that we get?

*meh*

3 of 5 stars.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die

broderic on March 6, 2026

I went into Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die thinking that it would be a fun romp like Everything Everywhere All at Once, but sadly, I was disappointed. I wanted it to leave me feeling good after the characters had battled whatever was causing the dystopia. It left me hopeless. Very dark. Is this the sign of the times? That there is only endless suffering and now matter what we do we can not get out from under it?

The movie is a classic time loop. The character caught in the loop must find the perfect combination to break out, and once they have escaped the world is as good as they had it before. Yet, not really in this movie. It ended and yet, it had to continue. It left you in one of the worst timelines. Now you end up thinking about the other loops and how dark and desperate those are. Nothing is good and you are left in a worst timeline.

Dark. Like I said.

It couldn’t have been best for us because the current world situation is also the worst timeline, and there’s no time loop to jump back into to find the right set of circumstances to make the best timeline occur. We are all in this loop together forever…

3 of 5 stars.

I Didn’t Know Until Now, When You Said It

broderic on February 25, 2026

Dang. Once again being an idol otaku is tough. Even if they aren’t your oshimen, just hearing the about their graduation can sometimes rip your heart out.

Umezawa Minami announced her graduation from Nogizaka46 in a blog post tonight.

Another of Nogizaka’s 3rd Generation to leave. We’re down to three.

For now.

Ume, as she was known, is the current captain of Nogizaka. She is perhaps the last great Nogizaka member from their early period before they were the top. She isn’t my oshimen, but she’s a member of Nogizaka, and she’s 3rd Gen, so I will like her as much. She wasn’t a favorite of mine from the beginning of their time, because I was more in love with Mizuki and any other member would make me jealous. But she stood out — she’s the tallest member and she’s rather beautiful in her own way. With the graduation of her sempai, she’s definitely been a leader for Nogizaka.

It still is lonely when she announced her graduation.

I wish her all the happiness in the world.