fireweed

Title: Vampire Syndrome

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2023-2024

Country: South Korea

Genre: Action/supernatural

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

When it comes to webtoons, especially Korean ones, I often find myself making the same criticisms over and over: this is just a new twist on a tired concept, there's no novelty to the art style, the pacing is terrible (and drags on for way too many chapters), and the big one: this series is all plot and no substance (it has no thesis, nothing it "wants to say," it's only goal is to be entertaining).

Then in strides an underrated action/supernatural series, catching me completely by surprise because it's about one of the most tired concepts of the 21st century, vampires, and yet feels like one of the freshest new entries to the webtoon scene in years. The art is super unique, stylish, and flashy (and for once does not completely clash with the 3D-generated backgrounds), the characters are all distinctive and interesting (and relevant through the whole series, no "introduce, use, and dump" here!), the series wrapped up comfortably in an engaging 80 chapters, and the entire premise is an analogy for social issues facing 21st century South Korea (and most of the first world):

The dialogue can be a bit clunky at times, although it's hard to say whether that's a result of a poor translation. The series engages in a lot of time jumps, and although I think they're handled well some people may find them confusing. The series has the emotional subtlety of a teenager's poetry diary and the social analogy thesis is pretty superficial, but it carries a sincerity that, combined with the art style, makes it all just work. The surreal rubber-people art, character-driven plot, and stylized body horror all remind me a bit of the Land of the Lustrous manga.

If you can stomach some (highly stylized fantasy) violence and noir-level brooding, Vampire Syndrome is a series I'd recommend to anyone looking for something different, or at least less superficial, in the action genre.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

I love seeing random instances of vaporwave influence. I stumbled across this example in the sci-fi/fantasy webcomic series Ava's Demon. It's only for two panels and has nothing to do with the plot at all, but I thought it was a neat cameo.

Second panel of the original comic (posted here) amended to track better in 2024 based on the first panel's dialogue

Title: Hell of a Romance (Original: 불지옥 로맨스, 불地獄)

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2023-2024

Country: South Korea

Genre: Slice of Life/Romance/Fantasy

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 3/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Contrary to what its title suggests, Hell of a Romance is a cute, wholesome slice of life series. Yes there is a romance story in there, but it takes a back seat for 90% of the series to the slice of life elements: at its core this is a story about two failures teaming up in an attempt to create a hit webcomic.

While nothing about this series stood out to me as a must-read, it's a great choice for when you're in need of a lighthearted pick-me-up or a low-stakes read before bed. The art is basic but distinctive, the pacing is decent (I hated the frequent use of cliffhangers, which made no sense given the general lack of action, but I thought overall pacing was fine and the series length was appropriate), the characters are charming enough, and there's just enough plot to keep the series interesting (although maybe not bingeable). I really liked the portrayal of hell, and while a bit of a cliche, I found the use of the angelic demon and demonic angel trope a good fit for the premise. There aren't quite enough jokes to call the series a comedy, but there are a decent number of amusing moments sprinkled in. All the characters appear and act like adults in their 20s-30s, and there's nothing I noted that would be a particular turn-off to older readers.

A relatively short series, Hell of a Romance is a great pick for when you want an easy, comforting read that's a bit more engaging than your standard slice of life, thanks to the supernatural premise.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Lore Olympus

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2018-2024

Country: New Zealand

Genre: Drama/romance/fantasy

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Lore Olympus is one of the best-known and popular Webtoons, and it 100% deserves that distinction. There's so much that's fresh and unique about the series while also having a lot of classic elements. For the uninitiated, Lore Olympus is a retelling of ancient Greek myths in a hybrid 21st century/ancient Greek setting. Webtoons bills it as a romance, however I call it a drama because there is so much going on beyond the romance plot: action, political scheming, revenge, trauma recovery, familial relationships, independence and interdependence...

The art style is bold, stylish, unique, and very aesthetically pleasing. The characters are fresh and interesting, drawing heavily from ancient myth mixed with more contemporary traits and personalities. The overall fusion of ancient and contemporary is fantastic; the entire series is full of little details pulled from old myths, right up to the end. The plot is engaging, and the pacing is mostly consistent. The main cast is huge, the supporting cast even bigger, and they all get fleshed-out personalities and storylines, and most undergo significant character development. Even though much of what happens in Lore Olympus was composed thousands of years ago, I didn't feel like the plot directed the characters, rather the characters drive the plot. For how much happens in this series, it's all surprisingly well organized and balanced. Yet a surreal, dreamy tone persists through the series, beautifully complementing the serious plot elements. This webcomic really utilizes its medium well.

I think Lore Olympus gathered some hate during its third season that I completely chalk up to the weekly release format. Readers complained that the plot wasn't moving as quickly as they wanted, which I attribute to readers' expecting the exciting pace from the previous arc's climax to continue (which would be bad storytelling) as well as frustration from fast-pass readers that they weren't "getting our money's worth" out of each chapter. I binged the series instead of reading it weekly, and thought the pacing perhaps got a tad slower than it should have during season three, but the story was clearly progressing and at a fairly consistent pace and wrapped up well. There are plenty of Webtoons where the story pace grinds to a halt or starts flailing as the author runs out of ideas while their editors push them to artificially extend their golden goose, but Lore Olympus isn't one of them.

I've also seen some hate around how some of the characters and/or relationships are handled, which I think a full read of the series combined with researching the original myths would generally dispel. In my opinion, Lore Olympus does a fantastic job maneuvering around the elements of Greek mythology we'd consider especially tasteless today (such as the incest), and given that the original myth is literally called "the rape of Persephone," I think the author's renditions of myth to better appeal to 21st century tastes is brilliant (from non-consensual encounters to giant age gaps). Mild spoiler:

The characters span a wide range of ages, but generally look and act like young adults and middle-aged adults. The characters express both maturity and immaturity, and overall I think this is a series that older readers will greatly enjoy, especially as the older characters are introduced and take more prominence in the plot.

Lore Olympus is a truly unique and well-made series that I would unreservedly recommend any fan of comics at least give a try.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

I was listening to the radio the other day and did an audio double-take as I could swear I heard vaporwave coming from my speakers. Turns out it was the intro to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter, one of the hottest songs of the summer. Another popular song that seems like it might have some subtle vaporwave influences is Saturn by SZA.

What do you think, is this just a coincidence or has the niche phenomenon of vaporwave influenced pop music? What mainstream songs give you synthwave/vaporwave vibes?

There was a conversation about lupine seed collection in the comment section of a post a little while back, and now that my lupine is going to seed I thought I'd follow up on what that looks like.

From left to right, we have immature seed pods (still green, still developing), maturing seed pods (brown, with black seeds inside), pods just about to pop (you can see them starting to split open with the round black seeds poking through), old pods most of which have popped open and dispelled their seeds, and finally a branch with all four stages present (generally seed pods develop from the bottom up, however this can be affected by variables like sun exposure).

The seed pods are apparently heat-activated; we've been getting a major heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest and the pods have been exploding open like crazy during midday when the sun hits them and the ambient temperature is at its peak. The seeds are propelled out when the pods burst open, and I've witnessed them fly well over ten feet.

If you want to harvest lupine seeds, the key is to grab them when they're mature but not yet expelled; you can do this by harvesting the pods by hand as they mature, but usually I prune the branches off the lupine once the pods on the branch start opening and put the entire branch in a bucket to break open at their leisure. While this pruning is generally unnecessary if you're not interested in seed saving, it does prevent thousands of volunteer lupine from popping up all over the garden (it's nearly impossible to keep all the seeds from spreading so I usually get a few dozen every fall and spring, but it's super easy to remove any that aren't wanted). One year I pruned the spent flowers before seeds could develop, and while that did produce a small second round of blooming I think it overly stressed the plant. Many lupine species are fairly short-lived perennials (with a few annuals sprinkled in), so it may be worth stressing them for more blooms if it's likely to die soon after anyway.

Some general disclaimers about lupine: due to their prolific seed generation and speedy life cycles, lupine are highly invasive outside their native range. There are also many species of lupine out there, so before planting make sure to source species from your area! There are some more "domesticated" ornamental species out there, but I'd really recommend sourcing a native variety if you can. They are really wonderful plants that require little care once established, have unique and showy foliage, and native bumblebees absolutely adore their gorgeous flowers.

I hope this was informative!

Cross-posted from: !animationafter30@lemmy.world

Original post: https://lemmy.world/post/17367342

Title: Train to the End of the World (English); 終末トレインどこへいく？(Japanese)

Type: Anime

Year: 2024

Country: Japan

Genre: Surreal

Status: Completed

Platform: Crunchyroll (watch here)

Appropriate for 30+?: No, but I (mostly) enjoyed it anyway

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Train to the End of the World (TEW) is perhaps one of the worst "cute girls doing cute things" series I've ever watched, and yet it's probably the series I've enjoyed the most this year so far.

Much like Girls' Last Tour, this is an entry into the "cute girls doing cute things, but in a dystopian setting" sub-sub genre that in theory hinges upon the bizarre juxtaposition of two seemingly incongruent elements. However unlike Girls' Last Tour, (or the currently-airing Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction), TEW probably would have benefited greatly from having literally any other cast of main characters. I thought the girls were really cliche, annoying, and forgettable, with painfully uninspired dialogue, and were regrettably-yet-unsurprisingly subject to a level of sexualization that would probably make most older audiences uncomfortable (nothing extraordinary, just the anime standard treatment of high school girls). Honestly I zoned out during most of the scenes involving the girls chatting amongst themselves, and I doubt I missed much plot at a result.

Despite all this, the premise/setting/world building of TEW makes up for its flaws. Once the girls STFU, the show gets to show off its weird, fun, creepy side. This is a series that makes you go ah, this is what the animated medium is for: surreal nonsense that would require a buttload of fake-ass CGI to even attempt to portray in live action. I really like the tone of the series, which is generally upbeat but with an uneasy aftertaste that puts you on edge while never actually venturing into tragedy (as can happen with surreal/dystopian series, looking at you Kaiba). There's a good balance of exploration and action, with some decent comedy tossed in on occasion.

Maybe I'm biased because my first trip to Japan, I spent a few weeks living at a guest house in Oizumi-Gakuen along the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line featured in this anime, and I'm a complete sucker for series that utilize real places (and TEW has a whole train line of them). Regardless I absolutely loved the premise of riding a train through a vast, unknown land of magic and horror, stopping at each station to learn what became of various previously-sleepy commuter towns in bizarro-Tokyo, intensity growing the closer you get to the city-within-a-city of Ikebukuro. TEW is a bit like Kino's Journey, but with socio-political commentary replaced with the train scene in Spirited Away albeit with more menacing vibes.

In summary, TEW is weird and atmospheric and I am here for it, despite the obnoxious (and occasionally uncomfortably-portrayed) main cast of cliche anime high school girls. Perhaps the creators didn't quite nail what they set out to do, but I couldn't help but really appreciate the attempt.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Train to the End of the World (English); 終末トレインどこへいく？(Japanese)

Type: Anime

Year: 2024

Country: Japan

Genre: Surreal

Status: Completed

Platform: Crunchyroll (watch here)

Appropriate for 30+?: No, but I (mostly) enjoyed it anyway

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Train to the End of the World (TEW) is perhaps one of the worst "cute girls doing cute things" series I've ever watched, and yet it's probably the series I've enjoyed the most this year so far.

Much like Girls' Last Tour, this is an entry into the "cute girls doing cute things, but in a dystopian setting" sub-sub genre that in theory hinges upon the bizarre juxtaposition of two seemingly incongruent elements. However unlike Girls' Last Tour, (or the currently-airing Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction), TEW probably would have benefited greatly from having literally any other cast of main characters. I thought the girls were really cliche, annoying, and forgettable, with painfully uninspired dialogue, and were regrettably-yet-unsurprisingly subject to a level of sexualization that would probably make most older audiences uncomfortable (nothing extraordinary, just the anime standard treatment of high school girls). Honestly I zoned out during most of the scenes involving the girls chatting amongst themselves, and I doubt I missed much plot at a result.

Despite all this, the premise/setting/world building of TEW makes up for its flaws. Once the girls STFU, the show gets to show off its weird, fun, creepy side. This is a series that makes you go ah, this is what the animated medium is for: surreal nonsense that would require a buttload of fake-ass CGI to even attempt to portray in live action. I really like the tone of the series, which is generally upbeat but with an uneasy aftertaste that puts you on edge while never actually venturing into tragedy (as can happen with surreal/dystopian series, looking at you Kaiba). There's a good balance of exploration and action, with some decent comedy tossed in on occasion.

Maybe I'm biased because my first trip to Japan, I spent a few weeks living at a guest house in Oizumi-Gakuen along the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line featured in this anime, and I'm a complete sucker for series that utilize real places (and TEW has a whole train line of them). Regardless I absolutely loved the premise of riding a train through a vast, unknown land of magic and horror, stopping at each station to learn what became of various previously-sleepy commuter towns in bizarro-Tokyo, intensity growing the closer you get to the city-within-a-city of Ikebukuro. TEW is a bit like Kino's Journey, but with socio-political commentary replaced with the train scene in Spirited Away albeit with more menacing vibes.

In summary, TEW is weird and atmospheric and I am here for it, despite the obnoxious (and occasionally uncomfortably-portrayed) main cast of cliche anime high school girls. Perhaps the creators didn't quite nail what they set out to do, but I couldn't help but really appreciate the attempt.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Nonesuch

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-2024

Country: United States (?)

Genre: Thriller

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

If you're like me with decades of comic reading under your belt, you're likely on the hunt for series that have something a little different to offer, and Nonesuch delivers. While a bit rough in spots, Nonesuch is a solid series, with good pacing, an engaging plot, and quite a bit of novelty, plus it's short enough that you could complete it in one or two sittings.

First, the novelty: this series is set in rural Appalachia and that''s not just an aesthetic; the characters are gun-toting, Christ-loving, red-blooded Americans. To each point: I know jack-all about guns, however my impression is that the series portrays them accurately. In the creator notes at the end, the author mentions that her intent was to create a "Christian" series, which I think is quite interesting given that I spent most of the series wondering if the Christian elements were supposed to be dismissive of the religion or not (in other words there's nothing preachy about Nonesuch, and the inclusion of Christianity definitely adds quite a bit of realism to a series set in the Bible Belt). Overall I really felt the setting in this series, which is a huge breath of fresh air not only in the world of comics, but American media overall (which are very California/NYC-centric).

Further bits of novelty: the art style, while not my favorite, is bold and distinctive. The plot/premise share vibes with various horror/thriller/mystery series (strong zombie and X-Files notes), but regarding the specifics I can't think of any examples that are similar. Probably my favorite aspect of the series is that one of the main characters not only has a disability, but it's a rare (yet real) condition that most readers probably haven't heard of, and it's an invisible disability, and it's integral to both the plot and character development. I'm assuming the author has personal experience with the condition, because it's handled with significantly more understanding and gravitas than nearly all depictions of disability/non-lethal health conditions in media.

The rough edges: while distinctive, the art style feels a bit clunky at times, with occasional bad anatomy and a limited range of facial expressions (I get that none of the characters are having a good time, but does "grimace" have to be everyone's default expression?). The series also does the thing where the characters often make reckless decisions that, while perhaps justified by the situation they are in, are nonetheless frustrating for the audience to witness (and indeed, often lead to completely preventable bad things happening). I think one other misstep happens when the characters discover what's causing the supernatural situation they're in (minor spoiler):

Of the three main characters, two are in their mid-twenties and the third is middle-aged. Everyone acts their ages, for better or worse (the younger two can be a little grating with their inexperience/immaturity in various things, including their relationship with each other). Other than this, there's nothing in the series that would turn off an older reader.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

One of my favorite aspects of "wave music" is that it's spun off so many various sub-genres and niche aesthetics. We've got:

Synthwave, Chillwave, Vaporwave, Retrowave, Darkwave

as some of the main players, but what else is out there? What other "waves" have you come across?