2024 has hit me hard in several ways, so my efforts to write via Substack have fallen short of what I initially envisioned. That said, there’s also been a lot of good out of this year, and I still intend to share essays and thoughts through this medium with you all.
Among the Substacks I subscribe to is a newsletter written by artist/writer Austin Kleon, and today’s article is very much inspired by his weekly release. Kleon – who is most famously known for his books Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going! – releases a weekly newsletter where he shares 10 things on his mind. There’s often a theme threaded through each point, but in short, he uses his newsletter to share what he’s been into lately, whether that be reading, movies, music, etc. You can learn more and subscribe to Kleon’s newsletter via this link here.
I’m going to attempt to do the same on a weekly basis – sharing with you all what books, comics/manga, anime, movies, video games, music, YouTube videos, and more have stood out to me in the past week. I don’t know if it’ll be 10 things all the time, but I’ll strive for that number. My goal is to release these newsletters (currently titled “What I've Been Enjoying Lately” - I’m working on something punchier) on Sunday; hopefully it provides you some enjoyment as you sip some tea/coffee.
That said, more importantly, I hope this newsletter introduces you to art/media that you explore – work that captures your attention and invites you to learn more about the world and maybe even yourself.
If you are already subscribed to my Substack via email – thank you! Those subscribed will always get an email notification when a new article is out. I also promote new articles via my Instagram, Facebook, and (reluctantly) through Twitter. Feel free to subscribe if you’d like, and shares are always immensely appreciated.
Without further ado, here’s what I’ve been digging recently!
1. I tend to read multiple comics/manga at once, but at the moment I’m the most enthralled with Taiyo Matsumoto’s Tokyo These Days. While there’s a central story involving a manga editor who retired from the industry and returns to make a new manga, Tokyo These Days is much more of an observational story about older folks creating manga. (By older I’m referring to those roughly 35 and up). Matsumoto’s drawing is elegant in how it presents realism and grounds the reader in a moment, whether it’s mangaka at work or friends out for lunch. I’m on volume two of three, and what I love most about Tokyo These Days is how it explores various means of relating to one’s art/work as you age. It asks such questions like: How does burnout impact your love for creating? and What does isolation look like when you devote yourself to work? It’s ultimately a heartfelt story about our connection to creating art as we age. It’s been a great read so far, and one I intend to revisit again.
2. Among the video game essayists I enjoy watching/listening to on YouTube, there’s Pim’s Crypt. They cover an array of horror games on their channel, and recently they uploaded a video talking about Scorn. Scorn was a game I had in mind while purchasing my Xbox Series X, and which upon playing I was frustrated with. While I love what it does atmospherically and the mystery surrounding its story, I found the play element difficult. Pim’s video first looks at the response Scorn garnered upon its release, but then takes a more analytical approach to how the game’s function serves its narrative and thematic exploration. Two years after getting the game, I embarked on a major dive into Elden Ring – a title I found brutally difficult at first – and after reexamining its mechanics and my own play style, and adapting to those mechanics, I got really good at it. Funny enough, I brought up Scorn on a recent phone call with a friend and thought how it might be worth completing, and this video only inspires me to do so more.
3. I’ve stepped back from playing just Elden Ring and have dived into some other games. One of those was the demo for Metaphor: ReFantazio, the upcoming title from ATLUS (the folks behind the Persona games). I loved it, and after my initial four hour run of the demo, I was itching to jump back in. When it comes to RPGs, I care much more for the actual role-playing element they offer. While I’m not super versed in the Persona or Shin Megami Tensei games, I enjoyed the hell out of Persona 5 and interacting with my virtual pals. Metaphor has that same sense of socializing, but this time it’s presented in a fantasy world and not just a high school. I cannot wait to get my hands on the full copy of this game.
4. I recently got back on GamePass and among all the titles I’ve been meaning to play, I finally got my hands on Citizen Sleeper. CS is a primarily text-based game that flows like a game of Dungeons & Dragons – except you’ve given up your human body for a synthetic one, live on a spaceship, and capitalism is driving you into the ground. Most of the actions you take are for the purpose of survival; I approach each day in the game with the question: How am I going to spend today? I can investigate mysteries, maybe even take part in some illegal tasks so I get extra money. But maybe I screw up those tasks, and so I’ve wasted a day when I could have actually worked (for very little funds) and gotten a meal. When it comes to role playing, Citizen Sleeper is incredible, and I’m looking forward to exploring it more.
5. However, because it’s spooky season, most of my game time has been taken up playing Silent Hill 2 (an all-time favorite of mine). I’m playing the HD collection that includes Silent Hill 2 and 3 and it plays well. Along with my love of SH2’s story, I adore the game’s atmosphere and immensely haunting soundtrack, the latter created by the brilliant Akira Yamaoka. Playing this late at night when it’s pitch black is perfect; when it comes to horror, I strive to find experiences that are going to unsettle me, and Silent Hill 2 does it for me big time.
6. Kicking off the second half of this newsletter are things I’ve watched, starting with two re-watches. The first was Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and goddamn does it hold up. Trigger (the animation studio behind this anime) did an astounding job (which isn’t a shocker if you know their work). Edgerunners is a superb work of cyberpunk genre; the world building is stunningly palpable, which is very much thanks to the jaw-dropping environmental designs, the atmosphere that accompanies them, and the soundtrack. In tandem with those qualities, it also features a great cast of characters who you’ll fall in love with and who will break your heart. (Becca is the best and I adore her).
7. With it being spooky season and down for another re-watch, I revisited Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass, and it still slaps. I may do a personal essay about Flanagan’s works at some point, but what I’ll say now and vaguely is that his approach to covering death has been a massive game changer in my life. How he writes about the matter and how his characters speak of it has helped me with a lot of my own fears and anxieties. Among his works, Midnight Mass is my second favorite of his. It reeks of Stephen King vibes (in a great way), and its story and characters always have me enchanted throughout the show’s seven episode run.
8. On to newer things! Among the ongoing manga I’m into, there’s Yukinobu Tatsu’s Dandadan – a sort of Shonen X-Files romance story about a girl who believes in ghosts but not aliens, and a boy who believes in the opposite. Guess what? They’re both right. Dandadan is a thrilling manga and representative of the evolution Shonen storytelling has been going through in recent years (e.g. Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen). Dandadan is a frenetic experience to read – with all its unique creature designs and the absurdity of its action sequences – and animation house Science Saru has captured that perfectly in their anime adaptation.
9. In my opinion, since the first anthology’s release in 2012, the VHS franchise has only gotten better. ’99 is still my favorite of them, but the latest entry, Beyond, is a banger. If you’re looking for some good ole genre chaos, with a strong focus on science fiction, VHS Beyond will have you jumping up and down with joy.
10. I’m always interested in dark media, so when I saw a movie critic I respect call Red Rooms “fucking evil,” I had to see it. Written and directed by Pascal Plante, Red Rooms’ story revolves around a man on trial for allegedly killing three young girls; additional specifics pertaining to the case involve the fact that the torture of these girls was recorded and sold online, a la dark web rooms known as “Red Rooms.” However, more central to this story is a young woman who becomes obsessed with the trial, attending every hearing. I’m still wrapping my head around its thematic points, but Red Rooms is an intriguing dive into obsession, leaning on that of true crime. I don’t know if I would call the movie “fucking evil,” I think my term would be “ugly.” For a film that doesn’t show you much at all of the snuff films, the audio design has a powerful means of eliciting horrific imagery. Major content warnings ahead if you’re to check this out.