2025 media retrospective!!!

Hi! I spent a lot of 2025 watching, reading and playing stuff. To try and justify all that time spent (and cuz all my friends are doing it) I've collated some of my thoughts on all the things that really stuck with me over the year. Time to put on my pseudo-intellectual glasses B)

erm... *raises finger*

movies

I watched a lot of stuff this year!! I think I watched a lot in 2024 too, but this year I larped as a cinephile a little harder. I went out of my way to see a little more stuff in cinemas. I think I just really enjoy going to the movies.

I started writing about all the movies I liked and quickly realised it would take too long, so here are some of the highlights instead:

coldfish and love exposure

Love Exposure

I watched through a little bit of Sion Sono's filmography with some friends. I love the characters he writes, who are often social outcasts or disenfranchised with their lives. They all harbour a sense of loneliness that feels very poignant, even if they aren't literally alone. Coldfish featured some of my favorite gore in film. Those scenes have really stuck with me. Something about the presentation of them felt very real and they would turn my stomach. I loved the aquarium setting too. We also watched Love Exposure, which was four hours of insane camp, discomfort, pervertedness and sincerity. It was pretty amazing. People need to be loved so badly, that they might begin to find it in strange ways, or take it by force. A lot of human interaction is driven by the need to be loved - even the more crass or strange parts. We also watched Prisoners of the Ghostland, which I didn't like as much as the other two, but it was once again kind of insane and I appreciated the creativity on display. Also it had Nicholas Cage, for some reason.

I think Sono's a new favorite director for me, and I really wanna explore more of his stuff.

conclave

Conclave

Went in pretty blind on a whim because I saw one of my friends gave it a high rating on letterboxd. Holy kino….

Just really spectacular. The cinematography and colours are stunning. Like really beautiful. Every shot feels so intentionally crafted and appealing. I suppose it's important that the world of the church should look beautiful and meticulously designed. The cast are all full of quirks and feel very genuine. The factionalism that breaks out is particularly pertinent to a lot of things today (not just religion) and also provides a lot of fun drama to watch unfold. And also, it's just such a pretty film.

avatar: fire and ash

Avatar

I was sooo hyped for this!!! I absolutely loved Way of Water, and have been eagerly awaiting the follow up. These movies are of course gorgeous and technically stunning, and while the storylines aren't super complex the characters feel easy to get emotionally attached to. I love the Sully family…. not to mention Varang and Quaritch too (they're so freaking cute together aaaa). F U to all da haters saying people can't name a single character…

But aside from all that, I just really adore the passion you can feel behind these films. I have a real soft spot for people that get really into worldbuilding, developing expansive lore and all sorts of characters to fit into it. Most of those people these days are making like twitter webcomics or fanfiction, but James Cameron gets to do it with a hundred million dollar budget. And that's beautiful. My dream world would have all of the funding for remakes and marvel movies funnelled to visionary projects like that. 100 million dollars to Viviziepop NOW!!!!

I liked too many other things to really go into detail, so let's try speedrun it!

phew. Onto tv. I LOVE TV!!!!!

shows

andor season 2

Andor

I! LOVE!!!! STAR WAR!!!!!!!

It's the kind of gritty, personal, political Star Wars story I've always wanted. I would've been obsessed with this as a kid. The cast of characters are so great to watch. You know everything is gonna go belly up for all of them due to the nature of where this sits in the grander SW universe, and I think they use that to their advantage by giving them plenty of flaws and having them stumble all the time. They felt very real.

I grew up as a huge Star Wars lore-head, so I really love combing over all the props, background characters and environments in SW stuff. Andor felt like a smorgasboard. So many random little guys, weird costumes, mundane and everyday tools. They go into a freaking Star Wars convenience store!!!! And in the convenience store there's just a random little creature in the background for like 3 seconds!!!! Is it bad if that really excites me…

I feel like I can't overlook the political commentary of Andor either. The Ghorman Massacre is a particular standout moment, especially with a lot of things happening in the world right now. But I found that stuff didn't land quite as strongly as it might have if this had been an independent prestige tv show or something. It's hard to ignore all the Disney money backing this project. It feels like we're being thrown a bone to keep us placated while the slop still continues. It's a shame, because otherwise this is just a great sci-fi tv show.

ninjago: dragons rising

Ninjago

It had been a while since I really paid attention to Ninjago. I watched up until the end of season 10, and then kinda just naturally fell off of it after they switched animation studio. When I found out they'd done a soft reboot in 2023 I became a little curious though…

I found it pretty refreshing to return to the show and be greeted by a new cast of characters. They feel a little better fleshed out this time around too. You can really tell that they've embraced the streaming model of television, as plot lines and character arcs continue over whole seasons with a lot of turbulence and drama. I'm not gonna act like the writing is super deep or anything, but the characters do feel well rounded and compelling. It's kind of the ideal Ninjago show I would have wanted as a kid.

Of the newly introduced ninja, I thought Sora was particularly interesting. She's kinda like the ultimate trans girl bait lol. Her color scheme is the trans flag, she's the elemental master of "tech", shes got gamer cat ear headphones. She even comes from the Warhammer realm called "Imperium" (where everyone is naturally obsessed with big shoulder pads). Not to mention her whole character arc is about her running away and changing her name because her parents won't accept her, and she spends half of the first season getting deadnamed by her old friends. Her big emotional moment at the end is her gaining the confidence to correct her parents. I don't really like being the person that says everything is a trans allegory, but it's kind of crazy lol.

Oh also they basically made Cole gay. He's off living in a situationship with his gay lover raising a family of orphans, and it's beautiful.

hazbin hotel season 2

Hazbin Hotel

I'm a Hellaverse defender for a lot of the same reasons I love Avatar. I enjoy getting to explore this overly thought out world that Vivziepop has developed inside her head, convoluted lore and all. It's awesome. Unlike James Cameron though, Vivziepop is more akin to the classical tumblr artist who loves constantly torturing her OC's with sad backstories and traumatic experiences (poor Angel Dust…). I guess I have a soft spot for that kind of writing too (˶˃ᵕ˂˶).

The thing that really surprised me about the first season (and continued to impress me this season) was how much I enjoyed the musical stuff. All the songs are total earworms. Everyone doubted Vox as a wannabe tumblr sexyman but honestly Christian Borle pulls it off. Every song with him is so much fun. Maybe I should check out more musicals?

pluribus

Pluribus

Bravo Vince…. need I say more…..

I really loved it. Feels sharply directed at the globalisation and amalgamation that society is going through right now thanks to social media and of course AI. This feels like Vince's most impressive work visually too. He's still using yellow but now it's much more intentionally vs yellow filter Mexico lol. idk I'm a big sucker for bright, saturated colour blocking so I found a lot of the visuals in this quite inspiring. I'm super glad to see Rhea Seehorn again too!!!! She was probably my favorite actor in Better Call Saul. Very excited to see where the next season goes (whenever they actually bother to make it aaaaaaa).

some other notable mentions:

ok. onto the weeb zone...

anime & manga

.hack//sign

.hack//SIGN

Watched this with a group of friends because someone had some vague nostalgia for the art style. SIGN is often brought up in relation to other 'trapped in the game' isekais like Sword Art Online, so I kind of expected something like that, but it really wasn't anything like it at all. SIGN is slow, mystifying, prosaic and at times frustrating to watch. It isn't really interested in action at all, but instead indulges in atmosphere and mystery. Yuki Kajiura's score is spectacular, and it's blasted way too loud for the first few episodes and it creates a really disorienting and intriguing effect. It really sells the old school creepypasta vibe.

That's probably what I liked about this show so much - how well it captures the essence of the online world. Every character in the game has a life outside of it, but we only really get to see the face they present in game. There's a theme of identity and how we present ourselves online that I found really compelling - the virtual world provides the tools for many to shape how they're perceived. For some people it's a game, and for some people it's an escape. But all the interactions and relationships that form are still important. Maybe even more so.

While there is a plot, most of the mystery that's set up is left to be further developed in the accompanying .hack game series. It leads to a somewhat underwhelming ending story wise. But the show's real strength is in the character drama. Characters are constantly arguing, talking behind eachother's backs, desperately trying to understand eachother, and storming off when they're upset. It's basically like being on Discord. It's actually kinda crazy how true to life it feels and how well their imagining of online spaces holds up. I could see it being a little divisive with audiences, but personally it really struck home for me.

city the animation

CITY THE ANIMATION

A real treat. Bursting with fun and creativity. The main cast have a really fun dynamic that was a joy to watch. There's a strong emotional backbone to the show too that really moved me at times. Every little moment in the titular city felt important, even if it was something silly or small. The whole world is interconnected, and everything matters.

Of course the other great part of CITY was THE ANIMATION (teehee)!!! It felt like a real love letter to the medium. Every background is so well detailed, there's so many creative shots and 'camera' movements. So many moments had me rewatching sections or even just the whole episode. Episode 5 was particularly amazing - it practically demands you rewatch it at least once. The only thing I could want for the show is for there to be more of it, but they crammed so much into the 12 episodes that it's hard to complain.

angel's egg

Angel's Egg

Saw this in the cinema!!! So freaking cool. It's fairly light in literal story, but instead thrives on its harrowing atmosphere, captivating visuals and rich symbology. Even parts that went over my head in the theatre (how did I not realise it was a capsized boat at the end… im so stupid…) still left me enthralled. There's a deep melancholy in the movie that really resonated with me. The film tackles with spirituality and comes out the end feeling kinda hopeless and resigned. Or at least that's how it felt to me - one of my favorite parts of this film has been reading other people's interpretations of it, which are quite varied. I guess it's kinda similar to the religious texts that it references, in that you can really take away from it what you want to. Its mysteriousness invites a lot of scrutiny, and reflects a bit of yourself back to you in your interpretation.

oh god there's too many things again. Let's go! Another speedrun!!!

yippee! onto the last main section

games

deltarune

Deltarune

Wow. Toby Fox does it again…I replayed Chapter 1 and 2 and got to experience it all as one long week of Deltarune which was a real treat. The characters in these games are always so charming, from the main cast's dynamic, to the standout side characters, and even the one-liner background guys. I love it.

Chapter 3 was a real highlight for me. Especially Tenna and his crew. He's kind of the perfect evolution of the tumblr sexyman archetype - he's still got the TV head and the suit, but this time he's got a little patheticness to him that makes him all the more loveable. He's a little bpd with it too. Definitely one of my all time scrimblos for sure. The weeks of spamtenna fanart that flooded my timeline after this game dropped was truly delightful ^-^.

I really enjoyed the themes of fate and agency that continued to expand in these latest installments. At times you end up feeling guilty for even playing the game at all. But then, would the world exist without an observer? Is there anything lasting you can truly take for yourself in the dark, or does it all return to inanimacy once you flip the lights on? It's kind of got a whole nekobako (:3) thing going on.

umineko when they cry

Umineko When They Cry

I don't really know where to start on Umineko. I spent over 150 hours this year reading through this visual novel. In short, it was amazing. It's full of bitter tragedy, bright hope, mystery, love, and all sorts of other things. There's really too much to write about (especially without spoilers) but it really left such an impression on me that it seems messed up not to try.

First thing - the music. Hoooooly. A soundtrack that never gets old over such an extensive runtime is an impressive feat, and they really killed it. Just so many earworms, from high energy 'battle' music to somber melodies. They're still playing in my head right now lol.

As for the story itself - Umineko uses the format of mystery (or fantasy) to tackle the idea of 'truth'. You spend a lot of time trying to uncover the truth - solving mysteries, coming up with theories - but the story goes through great pains to show you that something like that could never be so simple. The truth can only ever be what you make it, or what other people make it, or what you share with someone else. There's different kinds of truths, and some are more valuable than others. But you can never reach it looking at it only one way. Without love, it cannot be seen…

The romance in this story really moved me. It's cute and charming, as well as tragic and gut-wrenching. I've lost count over how many times it had me crying my eyes out. At the start I found myself disliking a few characters, but by the end of everything I felt so attached to the whole family. The story always has room for empathy (or love) for all, even when they're at some truly low points. It really is a story about love. It's inspiring in its compassion.

All of the mother and child related stuff really fucked me up too. I don't really have anything fun to write about that. Being a mother is hard, and a relationship between mother and child is complicated to say the least. Umineko puts you in the shoes of both parties and really twists your heart around from each perspective. Sometimes you're wracked by guilt for being a burden. Sometimes you feel like you could've done more, or appreciated the time you had more. I guess all you can do is continue on with love in your heart and look forward.

There's a lot more I'd like to say, but it's really hard to put things into words about a story you experience by feeling so much. Unfortunately (for my friends) it's 100% being added to the list of things I tell everyone they should read. You just have to experience it yourself really. Without 1 million words of reading, it cannot be seen…

I played a few other shorter games this year that I liked too:

music

one last little bonus section. I'm not very good at writing about music, so I'll just mention some albums/artists I was really into in 2025. Vylet Pony is the obvious standout - I think Love and Ponystep was my AOTY. Kind of an insane wealth of style, references and genres. Lucy Bedroque continued to be big for me, and it was really cool to see them live alongside JANE REMOVER!!!! I had so much fun at that concert. Revengeseekerz was great and even better live. I saw Ichiko Aoba live again this year too, which was lovely. I enjoyed her latest album Luminescent Creatures quite a bit. I listened to a fair bit of vocaloid this year too. Most of all, ex. happyender girl. I really enjoy their melancholic, slightly disharmonious style. It's a little silly, but their Adachi Rei cover of I Feel Fantastic (the tara the android song) may have been one of my favorite songs of the whole year.

Ok. I'm done. I'm sorry I wrote so much. I guess I actually ended up getting into a lot of stuff over 2025. I didn't even mention all the slop I hated lol. Maybe too much consuming and not enough creating… time to change that for 2026!!

thanku for reading!!

Wave Goodbye

woof