Things I liked in 2025

January 2nd, 2026

A lot of things happened in 2025. I can only focus so much on what’s going on in the world, and sometimes I think it’s good to just focus on yourself. So this post will be about my 2025. I did a lot of great things this year. I went to Japan, I cut my hair, and made a lot of new friends. I also listened to a lot of great music, went to great concerts, played great games, and consumed much media. I decided to write a list of things I enjoyed this year, partly to remember them, partly because I like writing about things that I like.

Table of Contents:

Albums

Songs

Concerts

Games

Other Media (movies/tv/books)

Comments

Albums:

Alice in Paris (2024) - Seychara Orchestral

Ethan C. showed me this album in January, and my reaction to it was “even if we end our friendship now it would still be worth it because of how good this album is”. The album follows Alice’s trip to Paris, and while it’s mostly bossa nova, has some nice funk and orchestral songs as well. Boo Boo Bossa’s is a perfect song to me. The combination of the strings and the theremin sounding synth that comes in around 1:25 gives me goosebumps over how beautiful it is.
Favorite track(s): Boo Boo Bossa

Clarity of Cal (2025) - Vulfpeck

Pack it up, the boys did it again. If you weren’t aware, Vulfpeck is my favorite band, and has been for over ten years. Their 2025 album was a nice treat, and very different from their previous albums. It is not a live album, but was recorded live. They did a run of shows in California and played the new album’s songs, using the venues as a recording studio. The sound ends up being super different than a studio album, especially because of how differently it had to be mixed. It has the live energy of Vulfpeck while also bringing back some old sounds, like with New Beastly, which has a lovely cowbell performance by Woody Goss and Aug 26 which was written by Woody and sounds the most “old vulf-like” to me.
Favorite track(s): Can You Tell, Tender Defender, Aug 26

Bobby Caldwell (1978) - Bobby Caldwell

You might not know Bobby Caldwell’s name, but you definitely know the popular song on this album (and the album reissue’s title), What You Won’t Do For Love. It’s a classic, and makes for great youtube reaction content to finding out that Caldwell is actually white. In the states, he was known for this song and was beloved at soul festivals, but in Japan, he actually became popular for many of his other songs as well, and was more known there than in his home country. I decided to take a listen to his debut album, and wow. This album is amazing. The instrumentation is lovely, every song rules, and What You Won’t Do For Love isn’t even close to the best song on the album (although it still is great). This kind of stuff is what artists in Japan were listening to to be inspired for their city pop hits of the 80s and 90s. I’ve been slowly turning people on to Bobby Caldwell as much as I can, because I think he deserves to be remembered as more than a one hit wonder.
Favorite track(s): Special to Me, My Flame, Love Won’t Wait

Cat in the Hat (1980) - Bobby Caldwell

Not only does Bobby Caldwell look exactly like Yung Gravy in this album cover, but his second record is also a lovely listen. It’s really solid and as I’ve continued to listen to his discography, these are a lot of the songs I’m coming back to.
Favorite track(s): Wrong or Right, It’s Over, Mother of Creation

Songs in the Key of Life (1976) - Stevie Wonder

I can’t say much about this album that hasn’t been said before. Prince said it was the best album ever recorded, and it’s hard to argue with Prince. Even when he was alive. Stevie has always been one of my favorite artists, but this year was the first time I took a listen to this whole album in full, and it has a lot of songs that I hadn’t heard before and have fallen in love with. This album is truly a feat in human creativity.
Favorite track(s): Have A Talk With God, Contusion, Another Star

Fearless Flyers 5 (2025) - Fearless Flyers

This album marked a new era for the Fearless Flyers as Jack Stratton of Vulfpeck stepped down as the band leader and gave the reins to Cory Wong as Stratton wanted to focus on Vulfpeck and Vulfmon. The new sound is a bit more Cory Wong-ish, but still has a lot of the Fearless Flyers DNA that makes their songs so good. This is probably their tightest album yet and possibly my favorite. Excited to see where they go from here and hoping to catch them again if they decide to go on tour (or back to Blue Note again).
Favorite track(s): Coastal Postal, Anaheim

Forward Motion (2004) - Mezzoforte

Mezzoforte is one of my favorite discoveries from this year. They’re an Icelandic fusion band that’s been around for nearly fifty years, and after listening to this album, they’ve obviously still got it. There’s a few songs I keep going back to, and they’ve just got an all around great fusion sound.
Favorite track(s): Forward Motion, Four Corners

Yumebako (2019) - Mitsukiyo

A single bossa nova song from discover weekly during work was enough for me to listen to this album immediately. It’s a very cool concept for an album: 24 songs, one for each hour. Each song isn’t an hour long, it just is for each hour (like animal crossing music). It does almost feel like a soundtrack, with each song feeling different emotionally and by genre. Lots of great piano, and I definitely plan to give the album another listen.
Favorite track(s): 8:00 Tea Time (Chocolate Lemon Trio), 9:00 Millefeuille, 11:00 White Cat

Ready Take One (2016) - Erroll Garner

Erroll Garner carried me through my internship this summer, to the point where he became my #2 artist on my Spotify Wrapped. He was a great jazz pianist, most known for Misty, which became a popular standard. He has a really unique way of playing, where his left hand is a bit ahead of the beat, so it sounds very playful and bouncy. It’s very approachable jazz music, but also not simple. He also hums/makes noises along with the songs, which you can hear if you listen for it. Watching one of his live concerts was also an interesting experience, because him and his band are moving around and smiling and dancing and the sea of white people in the audience were stone faced and not moving. Europe in the mid 1900’s was weird. Probably still is. Anyways, this album is a compilation album of previously unreleased recordings. The name of this album comes from the beginning of one of the recordings, where someone goes “Ready, take one” and he fools around a bit, and then they really start by going “Ready, take one and a half” which I enjoy very much.
Favorite track(s): High Wire, Sunny

The Dip (2015) - The Dip

The Dip is another one of my favorite discoveries from this year, from Vulfpeck radio on Spotify. They have such a fun sound, and I’m surprised I hadn’t found them earlier. They have a horn section which adds a lot to the sound and a super funky rhythm section. I’ve fallen in love with a lot of their songs throughout the year and they make great driving music. Now all I have to do is start driving.
Favorite track(s): O.P. Jebediah, Working Man, I’m Lonely

Aja (1977) - Steely Dan

I don’t know what magic Steely Dan had in the air this year, but on the day I finally decided to listen to Aja all the way through for the first time, my dad texted me that he got tickets to see a Steely Dan tribute band. Long story short, this album rules! Great basslines, every song a jam.
Favorite track(s): Deacon Blues, Peg

TRUE BLUE (2025) - CASIOPEA

Noro’s still got it! After nearly fifty years, CASIOPEA proves again that their fusion sound is timeless. I was also a fan of the CASIOPEA P-4 stuff, but this album really brought me back to some of their earlier stuff, and has some real great stuff on it. I’m excited to see some stuff from it live this summer, when I (hopefully) see them in Japan.
Favorite track(s): SKY SO HIGH, NEW DIRECTIONS

Songs:

Dawn (2025) - Vulfmon

I enjoyed a lot of the tracks from DEG, but Dawn really stands out to me. It’s a great Beatles-inspired song, something Stratton proved he could do with Little Thunder on Dot. This one, I believe, takes it up a notch. It has a really catchy melody, great vocals, and is an overall great track.

Summer Breeze (1973) - Ramsey Lewis

This song, specifically the live version from ‘73, has been my most played song on bass this past year. I first heard the studio version on Spotify, and when I looked up to see if there were any live versions, I was blessed with one of the best bass performances I’ve ever heard. Not only does Cleveland Eaton play some really fun and memorable basslines, the bass recording gods were on his side that day, because holy shit if this isn’t the best sounding bass ever, I don’t know what is. Please, listen to this song with headphones. It’s a lovely experience. This has been a fun bass tune to learn because it feels really good when you play it well, and even though it’s easy to do some improv fills, it’s also satisfying to just play it like the recording.

Caspa De Estrellas (1982) - Charly García

I found this song from a video titled “strange man with bi-colored mustache playing vulfpeck in the eighties”, but that video is really quiet for some reason, but I was able to find a better video here. It’s a great jam, but also is just such an intriguing video. Maybe Vulfpeck really did exist in the eighties. I wanted to dress up as him for Halloween and make a video where I played the bass part he’s playing with his left hand on bass, but ended up cutting my hair. Maybe next year. Anyways, I ended up really enjoying the real song that this jam is based off of, even if it’s not quite as vulfy. It’s very dramatic, and feels like it could be an evil jester’s theme song. Also, young Charly García was really hot.

Darcie (2025) - Anamanaguchi

Although I (regretfully) still haven’t listened in full to the new Anamanaguchi album, this single was really memorable. It has the great mix of rock and chiptune which I always love, but this new album mixes it with some emo, which is a fun new thing for their sound. This song specifically has great vocals from the bandleader Peter, and I also just like the name Darcie. It’s a perfect “girl in emo song” name.

Whenever You Want (2011) - Pyramid

I found Pyramid through my discover weekly a few years back, and eventually after falling in love with it, realized it was a Japanese fusion supergroup with none other than Akira Jimbo of CASIOPEA on drums. This song, off of their third record, has quickly become my favorite. The melody is catchy and memorable, and it’s a fun song that I keep coming back to.

Friendship (2018) - Minoru Mukaiya

This year I discovered Minoru Mukaiya of CASIOPEA’s solo releases, which consists of a few records, two of which are on Spotify. The most recent one from 2018 starts with this amazing funk jammer, Friendship. For a song written by a piano player, after the intro it has surprisingly mild keyboard playing, and really focuses on the guitar and horns. The horn arrangements remind me a bit of Cory Wong’s, and are so fun to listen to.

Deep in Love (2018) - Purdie and Friends

When this came up in a mix I played, I immediately clicked like, before realizing it was co-written by Bernard Purdie, legendary session drummer who has played with many of the jazz and funk greats. It is a really beautiful song, and gives off this feeling that I’ve known the song for my whole life. It reminds me a bit of Lake Street Dive, and is just great vibes all around.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day (2025) - Theo Katzman

The first new Theo Katzman song since Be the Wheel in 2023 doesn’t disappoint. It’s his second Roman song, and I’m waiting patiently for more. It’s a great single, and I don’t have much to say about it other than it’s very Theo and very enjoyable.

Concerts:

8-Bit Big Band - City Winery Philadelphia

First concert of the year was definitely a success. Went with Ethan C. and had a great time. Been a big fan of the band since Mr. Marr introduced me to them in middle school, and it’s been very cool to see their journey so far. Would definitely see them again.

Antwaun Stanley/Main Squeeze - The Foundry

Antwaun Stanley in Philly, let alone at the Foundry, was a no-brainer ticket buy for me. I originally planned to go with Harry, but ended up going with Ricky instead. The Main Squeeze is great, and I’ve been a fan for a while, but I was really there for Antwaun. He played an amazing set where it was just him and a keyboardist. Some covers, some Vulf tunes and some originals rounded off the set really nicely. The keyboard player had the immense task of playing a whole band on one instrument, and absolutely killed it, similar to how well it works in T-Pain’s tiny desk concert. Antwaun’s voice sounds heavenly in person and hearing his voice up close and with a stripped down set was really beautiful. I got to meet him after, and he was just the sweetest person you could imagine. We got to chat for a while, I got to fanboy a bit, and I asked about some backstory that I wasn’t quite sure about. A great time, and I hope Antwaun tours again soon.

(T-T)b - Deep Cuts (Boston)

I fell in love with the album Good Talk by (T-T)b a few years ago when I homebrewed my Wii U for the first time and heard the homebrew shop theme, which happens to be Slimers off of that album. I sat in the shop channel doing nothing for the entire song, amazed by how good it was. I listened to the whole album and was blown away that it was such a small band. They only really play in Boston, so I decided to plan a trip around their album release party show so I could visit Madi and see a show. One of the openers, Really Great, was (as titled) really great! I got to chat with him for a while after his set and he was a really nice guy. (T-T)b was awesome and I enjoyed their new album a lot, and it was nice to meet and chat with them for a bit as well after the show. Deep Cuts is an adorable venue and I hope they play there again.

Stanley Clarke - Freedom Mortgage Pavillion

Stanley Clarke is one of the great bassists, so it was a real treat to be able to see him at a free show at the Camden waterfront. A beautiful view of Philly and the water, watching a jazz/fusion legend all for free. His band consisted of all younger people, in their 20s or 30s, which is really amazing to see from someone in their 70s. In this era where older people are often climbing up the ladder and pushing it out from under them, it’s great to see a music veteran supporting the future of music. The show was great, Stanley Clarke does things that no man should do to a bass, and having a violin player in a fusion band was a surprising but welcome choice.

Vulfpeck - Madison Square Garden

I like Vulfpeck. We were just a few seats away from the stage at MSG, which is unreal. Amazing show.

Theo Katzman - White Eagle Hall

The first Theo Katzman show I saw, I remember about zero of the songs played because I had my first and only panic attack and hid under the bar. The second one was much more pleasant, and this third one even more so. Theo has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard in real life, and it seems like it’s just gotten better with time. His band members are the best of the best, and we were just a few people from the front, so we had a great view. The show felt very intimate, in between songs he often just talked for a while and said what was on his mind. He also was maybe the first person to compliment New Jersey, which was appreciated. We don’t get many of those. I also got to meet Jacob Jeffries briefly in the back of the venue, which was a nice little cherry on top.

David Byrne - The Met Philadelphia

This one was a real treat. David Byrne puts on as much of a show as he does a concert. The whole stage background and floor were screens, showing fancy visuals the entire time, and every second was choreographed. It was a great mix of solo and Talking Heads stuff, and it was cool to hear the few Talking Heads songs that I know performed live. This was another band of mostly young people, which again is lovely to see. One of the highlights was that during a song about silly t-shirts, they showed a bunch of silly t-shirts on the screen. Great choice.

Ginger Root - First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia

This was my second time seeing Ginger Root, and it was great, as expected. The first set was playing along to his musical movie album SHINBANGUMI, which I hadn’t seen before and was very funny. The second set was chosen by a wheel, and so we got to hear some songs that I hadn’t heard live before. I was on the right side of the venue and that was where they went up to the stage from, so they pushed me out of the way (politely) to get up to the stage. That was cool, I think.

Anamanaguchi - First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia

I found Anamanaguchi how a lot of people did, through the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game soundtrack, which I now own on vinyl thanks to Harry. It’s an amazing soundtrack that introduced me to the sound of chiptune with real instruments. I’ve followed them since and haven’t quite listened to enough of their discography, but have enjoyed everything I’ve heard so far. They were really great live, played a lot of good songs from the new album and a lot of hits, including their Hopes and Dreams/SAVE the World cover from UNDERTALE, which was awesome especially because the band actually inspired the original song. I wasn’t expecting to hear that cover at all, so it was a nice surprise and made me feel a lot of feelings. Before their set, I saw Peter (bandleader) watching the opener next to me. I didn’t want to take a picture, because a lot of people over the last few minutes had already asked, so I just went up to him and said “I like your band” and fistbumped him. It was a great experience.

The Olllam - Johnny Brenda’s

I almost didn’t make it into this show, because one of the managers personally hated me. And by that I mean they were being especially strict about the 21+ rule for this show even though it wasn’t bad at other shows. Luckily, I have an in. Joe Dart’s mom hooked me up and got Joe Dart to talk to the venue and confirm that it was alright for me to go. Already an interesting start to what would be a crazy night. This show was probably the biggest difference between expectations and reality for a show that I’ve ever been to. And that’s saying a lot, because my expectations were already pretty high. I hadn’t listened to the olllam before even though I knew about them for years because of Joe Dart being the bassist. They only toured in the UK and EU, so I didn’t pay too much attention to them. But when they came to Philly, not only was I excited to see another intimate show that Joe Dart was in, but this was also the best chance I’d maybe ever have to meet him. On all fronts, expectations destroyed. The show was beautiful, some of the best music I’ve ever heard live, and on top of that it was the first time I was hearing all of it. Already by the end of the first song, lllow the sun (please listen to this, it’s epic), I was mesmerised. Luckily, though, it didn’t end there. The keyboardist came out briefly after the show ended to talk to two friends who came, and I stuck around near them waiting for Joe. Dart that is; the keyboardist was also named Joe. I know the struggle. After the friends left, I got to talk to keyboard Joe for a bit, and ended up telling him that although it was lovely to talk to him, the real reason I’m here is to talk to Joe Dart. Lo and behold, he goes back and lets Joe Dart know I’m waiting for him and after he comes out I’m able to talk to him, which was seriously a dream come true. They say don’t meet your heroes, but this was the epitome of the reason to meet your heroes. I couldn’t have asked for a better conversation. I got to tell him he’s the reason I started playing bass, talk about bass a bunch, talk about Japan, and just have a great conversation overall. He was the nicest guy and gave me a lot of time to talk to him, which was so generous. I got a picture with him and he assured me that we’ll meet again sometime, and I believe him. The only thing I didn’t ask that I wanted to was if he still ever plays his old Fender Jazz, but that’s just one more reason I have to meet him again sometime. I also got to meet and chat with his mom, who is an absolute angel. One of the best nights of my life.

Couch - Union Transfer

Although not quite one of the best nights of my life like the last show, seeing Couch was lovely! I first found out about them from discover weekly a few years ago, before learning my cousin’s fiancée grew up with two members of the band and my friend and drum teacher Ethan also has connections with them. I saw them first opening for Cory Wong in 2024, and then again at Beardfest, but this was the first headline show I saw them at. I got to see Ethan for the first time since Beardfest many months earlier because he was their drum tech that night, as he made their drums. The show was a great time, they absolutely kill it every time and it’s been great to see them grow throughout the past few years. And even cooler that I got to hang with Ethan. That guy’s cool.

Countdown to Ecstasy - World Cafe Live

I don’t know what magic Steely Dan had in the air this ye- what? I already said that earlier? Oh. Well the last show of the year was a fun one. Great Steely Dan tribute with an amazing saxophone player and a great rest of the 13-piece band. They played Aja front to back which was a treat, as that’s my favorite album (so far), and they started with Black Friday because it was Black Friday. A nice, fun show to end off the year with.

Games:

Balatro (2024)

2025 was the year of Balatro. In January alone I played over 100 hours, all with a controller, at 1x speed. It took 299 hours to 100%, and ended up being my game that I could pull up whenever, play a run, and really enjoy myself. Watching Roffle and DrSpectred really improved my skills, and made great falling asleep content. Although I completed all the content, it’s still fun to boot it up and give a run a go every once in a while. Excited for the content update, whenever that comes out.

Yakuza Kiwami (2016)

I loved 100%ing Yakuza 0, but was done 100%ing Yakuza after that. So I played through the main story and some side stories of Kiwami, and had a great time. Awesome story, not quite as good as 0 but that’s really difficult to top. Looking forward to continuing the story, as I got a great deal on the bundle for the first 6 games + Yakuza 0.

Star of Providence (2025)

Dunkey is 2/2 on his publishing game. ANIMAL WELL was my game of the year for 2024, and Star of Providence got me a lot of enjoyment early in the year. I haven’t seen even a fraction of the game’s content even though I’ve beaten plenty of runs. I watched dunkey stream closer to the end of the game and saw bosses I didn’t even know existed. This game had lots of love put into it, there is a ton of content it is a really fun game all around. A good bullet hell that looks and sounds good is tough to put down.

DELTARUNE Chapters 3 + 4 (2025)

Who would have guessed that guy who made one of the best games of all time made another one of the best games of all time and it’s only 4/7ths done? Chapter 5 is probably the piece of media I’m looking forward to most in 2026. If you didn’t like chapter 3 we are fundamentally incompatible and should never speak again. Chapter 3 is the greatest thing to ever grace the human race.

UFO 50 (2024)

UFO 50 is one of those games where it’s a miracle that it exists. It defies all logic that fifty quality games in 2024 could be 25 dollars. There’s so many gems in this pack, and it was really interesting to be nostalgic for a time that I did not live in. Some of the games were not my thing, and some took a while to start to like, but that’s all okay, because you can just move on to the next one and come back to it later. Some of my favorites games were (in order of fictional release date): Mortol, Attactics, Mooncat, Waldorf’s Journey, Party House, Rail Heist, Valbrace, Pilot Quest, Mini & Max, and Quibble Race. Overall, Mooncat was my favorite. Because I’ve played games my whole life, when I start a game I’m already on a certain level of comfortability just because of the previous games I’ve played. This game threw that all away and made me feel like I’ve never picked up a controller before, which was such a beautiful feeling I haven’t had since I was a kid. The art and music were also beautiful, and the game is just vague enough that you can enjoy theorizing about what the hell is going on. Valbrace was a game that I started playing and immediately wrote off as too punishing and not for me, but after about an hour of trying I finally got into it and fell in love with it. The graphics are so neat and the gameplay is really something special. Mini & Max was also a joy, and could easily be its own standalone game. The meta puzzle at the end of the game was also fun to try to figure out, and I enjoyed the “51st game” (no spoilers).

Pokémon: Legends Z-A (2025)

When Pokémon: Legends Arceus came out, I was sick and played it for over fifty hours in a week. Then, I proceeded to 100% it in about 110 hours. I loved that game to death, and it was the most fun I had in Pokémon since the first time I played SoulSilver in first or second grade. Pokémon: Legends Z-A didn’t get quite to that high, and I didn’t end up 100%ing it past completing the Pokédex, but I did still really enjoy it. The wild zones, especially the later ones, were really fun to explore, and I did enjoy the story. The beginning though, was a bit rough. They really need to give you the reins earlier, because the first 2 or 3 hours were really a drag. It didn’t feel like an issue to me in the last game, but maybe that was just because of how new and exciting it was. Something I realized while playing, though, is that I just want Pokémon to be Yakuza. Make the story extremely intense, make the side missions extremely goofy, add more minigames, and flesh out a small but dense world/city. I think this game got the first and last down, so I’d love some more minigames and better side missions in a future title. The side missions were fun, but some of them ended up just being “have a certain item” or “use a certain move”, which can get kind of boring. Give me Miracle Johnson. Give me a chicken for getting a turkey in bowling who becomes my manager at my real estate business. That’s real shit.

Buddy Simulator 1984 (2021)

I gave this game a try a few years back but decided to go all in this year. This game was very interesting. It starts out as a text based game, but when your buddy realizes it isn’t stimulating enough for you to stay, it turns the text based world into a 2D world, and then keeps evolving into a 2.5D and eventually 3D game. It’s a really fun concept, and I think it nails the tension in the couple spooky moments it has. I enjoyed trying to get the different endings, and overall thought the game was executed very well.

Hades II (2025)

I think Hades II was an addiction for me. In November, Steam told me I had played more than 50 hours in 2 weeks. During the semester. I think that’s bad. But I had a lovely time playing Hades II, up until the very end where it got a little bit grindy to finish off 100%. I loved Hades when I played it in 2021, and this was just the first game but more, which is exactly what I wanted out of it. I enjoyed the new characters and the writing was on par with the last game. Very interested in what the studio does next.

Road to Empress (2025)

When I saw NorthernLion streaming this, I wrote it off a bit, assuming it wasn’t for me after watching for a minute. But when Ludwig started streaming it, I started watching it as a bit of a joke, and an hour in I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen and stayed up past 1am watching two nights in a row. It was an amazing experience to watch him play, and I knew I needed to find an excuse to play it myself. Luckily, that excuse came along when I realized I could make Tess and Savanna play it with me, hoping they would fall in love with it like I did. I was a bit worried, though, that they would be instantly be turned off from it. Luckily, it ended up working out, and they both loved it like me. The game is a Chinese FMV choose your own adventure game where you play as the only female empress in Chinese history, starting from when she joined the palace as a concubine. It’s about as far away from the games I usually play as you can get. But I think this may have been my gateway drug to both insane Chinese dramas and choose your own adventure games. Can’t wait for Road to Empress II.

Other Media (movies/tv/books)

The Phoenician Scheme (2025)

I saw this movie with my family in theaters and loved it. The cast was great, there were really great dry line deliveries, and the visuals were really nice to look at. I need to watch more Wes Anderson movies.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2025)

This is just some good old classic fun. I never knew I needed Looney Tunes to be a low budget sci-fi movie. There were a lot of great jokes and daffy and porky make a great combo. This just got me more excited for new Looney Tunes stuff like Coyote vs. ACME, and whatever Pete Browngardt does in the future with the series, I will be there.

Perfect Blue (1997)

This is one of the coolest anime movies I’ve ever seen, and it was very cool to see in theaters. You never quite know what’s going on until the end, and even then there’s still questions to be asked. The story was amazing and keeps you on your toes the whole time, and was a great exploration of themes like early internet culture, stalking and idol culture in Japan. I need to watch more Satoshi Kon movies.

Interior Chinatown (2024)

The only full show I watched this year was Interior Chinatown. I started it possibly in 2024 and it took many months to finish, but that was only because of logistics because I watched it with my parents who I do not live with for 8 months out of the year. This show was awesome. I really loved the acting, the story, and the directing, and it was one of those shows where you never know exactly what’s going on. You can’t tell what’s for the viewer and what’s actually in the world in the show, and although a lot of those questions get answered by the end, some are up to interpretation. Lots of great foreshadowing throughout the show and I would highly recommend it, it’s only 10 episodes long and you can watch it in a weekend (something I was unable to do).

Legends of Localization: EarthBound (2016)

I read Legends of Localization: UNDERTALE in senior year when I did a project on localization, and ended up buying the other 2 books but not reading them. When I decided to replay EarthBound, I did what the book suggested and played along. I would play a section, and then read about it, and repeat. It was a great way to experience the game, and it was cool to be able to understand a lot of the Japanese stuff from the book from my studies. One of my goals in the next few years is to be able to play EarthBound in Japanese so I can appreciate a lot of the jokes and writing in the actual game, and not just through a book.

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025)

Last movie of the year! I really enjoyed this movie. I was LOLing and LMAOing and maybe even a little bit of ROFLing throughout the whole movie. The animation was great and there were so many solid jokes. Patrick was great, and his character is easy to mess up. Dutchman was great, and felt like he does in the show, and plays off of SpongeBob really well. I wouldn’t change a thing about the movie, Derek Drymon did a great job.

And that’s all! There were more things that happened, but these were the ones I wanted to write about. Thanks for reading if you have read this far, I’m excited to write more in 2026. Blog posts will be inconsistent if they exist at all until I go to Japan in March, when I hope to write them often, whenever interesting things happen. Happy New Year, hope 2026 treats everyone well.