Random Anime Musings Today

i got into watching anime on Hulu when US sitcoms seemed kind of stale.  Some anime have weird stories.  Being animated, they can also touch on certain themes in a different way than traditional TV shows can.  However, there is still a bit of a culture gap between US/European viewer and the target market in Japan.  The naming can get confusing - as the US versions sometimes alternate the order (US version first name then surname vs Japanese version.  ie John Smith vs Smith John).

- Anime are used to prop up sales of books (light novels, manga) in Japan.  As a result, many animes remain in an unfinished state (story stops cold, does not complete).  Viewing this from a US perspective, i would be looking for completed light novels/mangas before i started a show.  Not using continuing series.

i hate reading.  It is not comfortable or fun.  Sustained silent reading forced on me in high school caused me to resent reading.  An hour or so a day of reading books i didn't want to.  That is why i took more literature classes than most.  Another reason to hate reading is how pretentious most of the "modern classics" are.

Gareth from the show non-anime show Galavant said it best: "reading is for morons who don't understand pictures".

MSFT Video Shut Down - Why AMZN Prime Video is not a solution for me

So, MSFT abruptly shut down their Video and TV app on the Xbox.  This kind of sucks, there were a few shows i was going to buy when they went on sale.  If history is something to go on, it is only a matter of time before the videos i have on there are inaccessible.

Most of the stuff i have on the app was anime i bought on sale (mostly $4.99 or less).  It worked fairly well for me and gave me another thing to use my MSFT Reward Points on (now it is only really useful for Game Pass, or a few games i've been thinking of for a while but never go on a deep enough discount).

Why did i get stuff on MSFT Video?  A $5 season is much more justifiable than a $50+ season of 12 or so episodes.  Though that doesn't apply if they are out of print (which since i started watching anime two or so years ago, many are).  $100+ seasons are the norm.  Anime Blu Rays are massively overpriced to begin with, ensuring relatively low sales.

i bought Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest on sale for $3.99 (plus sales tax, which i shouldn't have to pay for a digital license).  i believe that is out-of-print in Region A.  In general, AMZN Prime sales on anime suck.  Not nearly as good as the $5 semi-annual MSFT Video and TV sales over the past couple of years (which included the English dubbed versions and clearly state what you are "purchasing").

i noticed a few things were on sale at AMZN Prime Video.  But there is a very big problem i have with AMZN Prime Video purchases - the listings are kind of inaccurate.  When i got into the listing, i clicked on information: it said available languages included English - i went through every episode of the season and it said the same thing.  After i bought it, what was the only audio language available?  You guessed it, Japanese.

Random Musings Today: July LEGO Tradition, Black Hole Day, etc

 Another undefined time period, another musing post.

- Saw an Instacart ad - summer like it's 1999.  1999 was one of the worst summers of my life.  Don't want to relive a second of that misery.

Might have actually been worse than when my alleged father died of cancer 2 days before my 16th birthday (funeral was 2 days after).  That one was expected (for a while).  i felt a greater sense of loss in 1999 - more my dreams of the future (normalcy - marriage, kids, etc).  And... die they did, never to be rekindled again.  Both killed any future potential i might have ever had (other than illusions).

1999 was like the "King of Wishful Thinking" by Go West, "Missing You" by John Waite, and "Someday by Glass Tiger" - seem happy on the surface, but deep down come off as self-delusional false hope.

- Did i mention i hate summer?  Well, i do.  Wonder how much a C. Montgomery Burns style sun blocker would cost.