Here's my penultimate Ranma 1/2 manga review, since I'll be reviewing the final two volumes together. This volume has two amazing arcs that are tanked by a couple of glaring mistakes and because of that, I could only give it a 6/10.

December 3rd - Ranma 1/2 Volume 36 - 6/10

Pros:
Volume 36 has 3 single-chapter arcs: the Jellyfish Beach, Meeting Akari and Substitute Chef arcs. Technically the Ranma Moves Out arc is also a single-chapter arc, but that one connects seamlessly with the Pill Box arc, so I'll consider those as one multi-chapter arc. The other multi-chapter arc is the Saotome Family Treasure arc.

The Substitute Chef arc is the funniest single-chapter arc. It's just Konatsu, Ranma, and Akane trying to take over Ukyo's shop while she's sick and failing miserably. The funniest joke was how Ranma weaponized Akane's awful cooking by marketing it as a challenge.

The Jellyfish Beach arc isn't bad either, it focuses on Akane's swimming skills and it's nice to see Akane being able to swim happily for once due to a special swimsuit she's wearing. The reveal that the swimsuit was made of jellyfish and the reason why she was able to swim so well was due to the help of the jellyfish king was also quite funny.

Neutral:
The Meeting Akari arc is a little repetitive as it's just Royga constantly getting lost while trying to meet Akari. But when they do finally meet, it is very sweet and you can see that they do really love each other.

The Ranma Moves Out/Pill Box arcs, do a lot right but are ruined by one small change at the end. For one the Ranma Moves Out arc follows perfectly after the consequences from the previous arc. It makes sense for Ranma to move home after he finally reunites with Nodoka. This big event puts a lot of stress on Ranma's and Akane's relationship. They explode on each other and leave on sour terms. I think this is because they weren't ready to face the reality of their love for each other and admit it. Nodoka tries to help Ranma patch things up by giving Ranma a gift he can give to Akane. The problem is that it's an engagement ring and even though Ranma loves her, he still isn't ready to go that far with Akane yet. When he finally builds up the courage to hand it over accepting the consequences, it's revealed that the supposed engagement ring was just a pill box. However, it has still served its purpose of repairing their relationship.

So far I've mentioned most of the positives these two arcs have to offer, so what change could possibly ruin it in its entirety? Well, one aspect of these arcs I haven't mentioned yet is how not only does Ranma moving work as a plot point, but it gives the arcs a fresh feel. It is one of the biggest if not the biggest status quo change in the manga so far. The new living condition puts a whole new spin on Ranma's and Akane's dynamic as well, they only see each other regularly at school now and would have to actively spend time with each other otherwise. All of this excellent development is thrown in the trash when Ranma and Nodoka move to stay with the Tendos after Nodoka's house is destroyed. This destruction isn't even shown to the reader and was supposedly caused by Ranma's other suitors. The moment feels like a massive rug pull. Not only was it not shown, but even if it was, in the manga, there's plenty of destruction and not once has it been an issue before. You might want to argue that of course, Rumiko wouldn't make such a massive status quo change. However, there are only two more volumes left in the story and Rumiko knew this because the volumes consist of one massive arc, no single-chapter arcs whatsoever. There is no reason for this final arc not to be able to take Ranma's living conditions into account.

Now we arrive at the most important arc in the volume, the Saotome Family Treasure arc where Ranma finally reunites with Nodoka. Now that might confuse you since I said the same thing for the Battle of the Busts arc in my Volume 34 review. And that statement would be correct as well since this arc is brought down a lot by the mere existence of that arc. This arc consists of Ranma avoiding his mother in his male form and when they finally reunite they have a big tearful reunion. This would be a wonderful and well-deserved moment if it weren't for the fact that they already reunited in the Battle of the Busts arc. The only reason I can see why the manga doesn't consider that moment the real deal was that they met under unideal circumstances where Ranma was crossdressing and the fact that Nodoka never saw his face. But this is a mere technicality, under all reasonable metrics, Ranma and Nodoka have already reunited! That's why it felt odd reading this arc, they were acting like the aforementioned arc never happened. Even a simple mention of why the situation had regressed could've smoothed things over.

This isn't even the worst of it however, in this arc Nodoka is shown to be very clever, slowly putting together clues that Ranma and Ranko(The fake name Ranma uses for his female form when around his mother.) are the same person. This would ordinarily be a good way to have her figure out the secret, except it is once again nullified by the Battle of the Busts arc. In that arc at the very end, Ranma gets knocked through the bathroom wall after getting splashed with water to prevent Nodoka from finding out his secret. The problem is that Ranma doesn't go very far and ends up directly on the other side of the wall, which Nodoka immediately sees. But she somehow doesn't realize it! The manga wants to portray Nodoka as clueless and clever at the same time. You can't have your cake and eat it! To the manga's credit, it does try to fix this by having Nodoka mull over that clue and question whether Ranma and Ranko share some type of connection in the prior arc. However, this doesn't work either, since it is far more obvious than any of the clues she's given in the Saotome Family Treasure arc. You're telling me, Nodoka can tell there's something afoot based on the size of Ranma's footprints when exiting a well, but not when there's a completely different person on the wall he just got pushed through?

For all I have ragged on this arc, the moments that aren't brought down are fantastic. Especially the reason why Nodoka doesn't end up making Ranma commit seppuku, which has defined their entire relationship thus far. During one moment in the arc Ranma drops the Ranko act he keeps up around Nodoka to recover the family treasure from Genma. This stuns Nodoka as she can recognize the manliness in the way "Ranko" was acting. This is another clue she uses to connect the dots between Ranma and Ranko but is also the deciding factor as to why Nodoka spares Ranma's life. It makes Nodoka realize that Ranma's manliness isn't dependent on his outward appearance, but it's always with him.

I like having a couple of categories that can't be planned around, although that is because I don't get even close to finishing the challenge. However, as a compromise, I suggest that these more subjective challenges could be grouped together with objective challenges, so people can choose which one they want to complete.

Read another Ranma 1/2 volume, but this ended up being great, which is nice compared to how bad the previous one was.

December 1st - Ranma 1/2 Volume 34 - 8/10

Pros:
Volume 33 contains the Shotgun Bean Plant, Valentine's Chocolate, Repentance Room, Battle of the Busts, Incense of Spring Sleep and Three-Year Death Smile arcs. Repentance Room and Battle of the Busts are multi-chapter arcs while the rest are single-chapter arcs. I'll start with the good single-chapter arcs before moving on to the multi-chapter ones since I have more to say about those.

The Shotgun Bean Plant arc provides an interesting scenario where the main cast can't get angry or they get shot with beans by the plant. Naturally, hilarity ensues. The funniest part of the chapter has to be the ending where the eternally reserved Kasumi gets rid of the plant by putting it in the trash when no one else could stop it.

The Valentine's Chocolate arc focuses on Ranma and Akane's relationship, which is my favourite type of arc. Akane is tasked by someone else to deliver chocolate to Ranma but is hesitant to do so because it would create a misunderstanding with Ranma. Meanwhile, he doesn't want her homemade chocolate due to her bad cooking skills. When Ranma does get the chocolate he is severely disappointed that it's not Akane's, which leads to a sweet ending where he receives a real one from Akane.

The Three-Year Death Smile arc is a surprisingly effective Mousse & Shampoo arc despite it being only one chapter. Mousse thinks that Shampoo is applying a sacred Amazonian strategy against him, but it ends up being a giant misunderstanding where Shampoo was being nice to him to make up for a mistake she made.

Now onto the multi-chapter arcs, the Repentance Room arc further expands on Hinako's abilities in a believable yet interesting way. At first, the fact that she absorbs so much resentment from the statue that it shifts her personality into a principal-hating delinquent seems very outlandish and far-fetched. But if you think about it, her ability is absorbing people's battle aura, normally it's only one person's worth at once or a couple of people at most, which she can handle fine. But the statue had hundreds if not thousands of student's worth of energy stored within it, which was too much for Hinako to handle. This results in quite a few funny moments, although the funniest joke in the arc for me was that the three seemingly menacing and strong evils which Principal Kuno brings out against Hinako end up merely being Kuno, Happosai and Nabiki wearing coats.

The Battle of the Busts arc is the longest arc in the volume at 5 chapters but also the most important arc in multiple volumes, since it contains a status quo change. The arc follows two plot lines which start off mostly separate but slowly get intertwined throughout the arc. These two plotlines are a conflict between Ranma and Akane about busts and Ranma having to deal with Nodoka's presence. The conflict starts when Akane is self-conscious about the size of her breasts and then Ranma decides to be his usual insensitive self. Then Ranma makes it worse by saying that he doesn't want to see her breasts, which implies that he doesn't value them and this hurts Akane's feelings. In return, Akane can't just say that she does want them to be looked at because that would make her seem like a pervert. What she instead does is leave Ranma to deal with his mother alone in his female form.

This ends up making the situation worse as Nodoka's opinion of Ranma continues to deteriorate. This opinion is put to the test climax when Nodoka finally meets Ranma's male form and the status quo finally changes. There were quite a few close calls in this arc where I wasn't sure if the status quo would be changed. The most egregious one is where Nodoka leaves, but secretly returns because she feels the presence of the pervert she's trying to catch (who is Ranma) within the Tendo household. But I can't fault this moment either, because it was shown earlier in the series that Nodoka was quick to act on spiritual feelings. In one case she went straight to the shrine to pray due to bad omens she had received.

Back to the status quo change, Nodoka discovers Ranma's unmanly crossdressing and is ready to have him commit seppuku, but to prove his manliness, he is staged to peep on Akane. This is where the two plot lines fully come together, as Akane and Ranma are still pissed at each other, but Akane does help out Ranma for his sake. Then when Ranma is about to see Akane naked he is disappointed due to her wearing a bathing suit, which resolves the aforementioned conflict as it shows Akane he does care about her figure. An additional note is that although Nodoka does meet Ranma's male form for the first time, she doesn't immediately learn about his curse. At first, I was a bit disappointed they didn't go all out with the status quo changes in this arc, but ultimately I think this was a good decision as it will still allow for plenty more shenanigans in future volumes.

Neutral:
In my retelling of the Battle of the Busts arc, I have explained Akane's side of the conflict and why she couldn't come clean to Ranma, but I have neglected to give Ranma's side. I did this intentionally because it is easily the weakest part of the arc and hampered the arc more than I would've liked. I acknowledge that Ranma's character is cocky, insensitive maybe even a little stupid at times. But the level of stupidity he displays in this arc goes straight past comedic to plain absurd. Ranma thought that there was absolutely nothing wrong with mocking Akane's breasts, which should be so incredibly obvious. He only realizes what his mistake was once Nabiki and Kasumi let him know after finding out and are just as baffled as the readers are. If this element of the arc was a bit more logical, this would easily be a top-tier arc.

Lastly, there is the Incense of Spring Sleep arc. This one suffers from it being adapted into an OVA which expands on it so much that it makes the original seem too short and disappointing by comparison. Other than that, it is a perfectly serviceable arc.

Collection Link

❌️ 01. A new game (released within the past year) - Jusant
❌️ 02. An old game (released 10+ years ago) - Crashmo
❌️ 03. A really old game (released 20+ years ago) - Donkey Kong 94
❌️ 04. An ancient game (released 30+ years ago) - Super Mario Bros. 2
✅️ 05. A time sink (50+ hours) - Persona 3 Reload
✅️ 06. A quick completion (less than an hour) - Passed & Present
❌️ 07. A game you got for free - Human Resource Machine
❌️ 08. A game you've been wishing and waiting for - Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Replaced: Professor Layton and the New World of Steam)
❌️ 09-1. A remake or remaster of a game - Super Mario RPG 2023
❌️ 09-2. A game that received new translations to other languages some time after its initial release - 428: Shibuya Scramble
❌️ 10. A game with 6+ endings - Chaos;Head Noah
❌️ 11. A collection of games - Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
✅️ 12. A game recommended to you by someone else - Chants of Sennaar
❌️ 13. A game whose title could describe your life - No Time
❌️ 14-1. A game with an alliterative title - Will: A Wonderful World
✅️ 14-2. A game whose title contains the name of a color - Paint the Town Red
❌️ 14-3. A game whose title starts with a number - 80 Days
❌️ 15. A game that heavily focuses on flight - Airport Madness 3D: Volume 2
❌️ 16. A game from a genre you don't usually play - Sifu
✅️ 17. A game that is themed around dogs or cats - Stray
❌️ 18-1. A game that features multiple genres, or is a mashup of different genres - CrossCode
❌️ 18-2. A visual novel or text-based game - Higurashi When They Cry
❌️ 19. A game where you play as an antihero or a villain - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
❌️ 20-1. A game set in a historical time period - The Forgotten City
❌️ 20-2. A game set in the far future - The Entropy Centre
✅️ 21. A game with a female protagonist - Super Metroid
❌️ 22. A game without any humans - Tunic
❌️ 23. A game where you play as a robot or an alien - Detroit: Become Human
✅️ 24. An arcade-style high score game - Azure Reflections
❌️ 25-1. A game set in a world you would like living in - Steins;Gate
❌️ 25-2. A game whose protagonist you would want to be friends with - Persona 5 Tactica
❌️ 26. A game where you play as a bug or an aquatic creature - Bug Fables: The Everlasting Spring
✅️ 27. A game that was adapted from another medium (book, movie, etc.) or a game that has been adapted into another medium - Persona 4 Golden
✅️ 28. A game you watched someone else play first (partially or in full) - SUPERHOT - (Replaced: Sorcery! Parts 1 & 2)
❌️ 29. Another person’s favorite game - Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
✅️ 30. A game with a diverse cast - Fire Emblem: Three Houses
❌️ 31. A cornerstone to gaming culture - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
❌️ 32. A game that starts with the same first letter as in your username (if your username doesn’t contain letters, pick a random letter) - Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition
❌️ 33-1. A “threequel” (third part of a series) - Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
✅️ 33-2. A spin-off game - Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
❌️ 34. A bright and cheerful game - Toem
❌️ 35. A game containing a real or fictional religion - Bravely Default
❌️ 36. A game that heavily features either fire or ice - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
❌️ 37. A game that heavily features money, gold, or economics - Weapon Shop De Omasse
❌️ 38. A game with a subtitle - Super Mario Bros. Wonder
❌️ 39. A game that surprised you - Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane
❌️ 40. A post-apocalyptic game - BioShock
❌️ 41. A game with a short title (4 letters or less) - HUE
❌️ 42. A game that had a red retirement rating on HLTB when you started playing it (10% or higher) - AiRace Speed
✅️ 43. A game that one of your favorite artists worked on (artist, developer, musician, voice actor/actress, etc.) - Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
✅️ 44-1. A game you previously retired or put on hold - Kingdom Rush - (Replaced: Spore)
❌️ 44-2. A game that you have beaten before and are replaying - Hollow Knight
❌️ 45. A game that is on someone else’s HLTB 2024 Gaming Challenge List - Cocoon
❌️ 46-1. A studio's very first game - Neon White
✅️ 46-2. A studio's most recent game (at the time when you started playing the game) - Event[0]
❌️ 47. A game that had its HLTB times on a purple/red/gray background at the time you started playing it (color indicates the amount of submitted playtimes, red = low amount, gray = zero) - Can of Wormholes
❌️ 48. A game that has been a HLTB Game of the Month - Ori and the Will of the Wisps
❌️ 49. A game listed on the HLTB stats page, or the stats page filtered for a single platform - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
❌️ 50. A game chosen by the HLTB randomizer - The Spectrum Retreat

November Update

As usual, I managed to fit all the games I beat onto the challenge list. Unless a miracle happens in December it looks like I will fall short of my personal goal of beating half of the games in the challenge.

✅️ 17. A game that is themed around dogs or cats - Stray
✅️ 28. A game you watched someone else play first (partially or in full) - SUPERHOT
✅️ 44-1. A game you previously retired or put on hold - Kingdom Rush

Totals:
Completions (14/50)
Bonus (0/5)
Alternatives (0/9)

Managed to beat 3 games this month which is pretty good for this year's standards. I also beat Tsumihoroboshi in Higurashi, but I don't consider that a seperate game.

November 1st - Stray - 7h 24m - (Main+) 8/10 - Started October 28th - 4 Days Taken - Beat the game, got all memories and badges and got 16/24 of the achievements.
November 3rd - SUPERHOT - 5h 30m - (Main+) 5/10 - Started November 1st - 2 Days Taken - Beat the game, two challenges and got 18/26 achievements.
November 21st - Kingdom Rush - 18h 42m - (Main+) 7/10 - Started: November 19th - Days Taken: 2 - Beat the campaign on normal and heroic. Beat all but the last two optional bosses. Got 68/74 achievements.

Short TLDR of my review:
Stray - Great cat vibes.
SUPERHOT - Cool idea, a little too difficult.
Kingdom Rush - Surprising amount of strategic depth.

I agree with the others that some of these challenges seem a little too specific, limiting the number of games available. The ones that stood out to me we these:

14-3. A game with no recorded completion times

I think this one is a bit too restrictive since if a single person plays a game, this one goes out the window. If you want to include something similar, then you can replace it with the red time one that's in the current challenge.

22. A game that takes place after a timeskip (5+ years)

Is this supposed to mean that the game takes place after a time skip earlier in the series or from a time skip within the game? If it's the latter I think it would be quite limiting.

30-1. A game from a yearly franchise or one that was released when the series was a yearly franchise

There aren't that many yearly franchises out there at least with the common series this term is used for. Does this definition also include series where just two or more games were released in back-to-back years?

Here's another Ranma 1/2 Volume review. This one was a lot worse than the previous one, sadly.

November 27th - Ranma 1/2 Volume 33 - 3/10

Pros:
This volume mostly consisted of one-chapter arcs. There were only two multi-chapter arcs in this volume, which were the Mushrooms of Time and Jizo Statue arcs. One-chapter arcs aren't necessarily bad, as they allow for exploring interesting and unique concepts that might not be worth a longer arc.

Starting with the arcs I liked. The Jizo Statue arc provided a new angle to Shampoo's and Mousse's relationship, where for once Mousse isn't interested in Shampoo. (Or at least the real one that is.) Shampoo naturally isn't interested in Mousse romantically, but she does care about his well-being since they are still friends. This is why she ends up giving the scarf she was making for Ranma to him instead, due to his weakened state.

The other arc I enjoyed was the Angry Kasumi arc which is exactly what the name implies. The arc builds a lot of tension portraying the results of Kasumi's rage and how rare that is, considering that no one has ever seen her angry. Then it's revealed to be a big misunderstanding and that Kasumi isn't mad at all, which is exactly the comedic plot twist I would expect from Ranma.

Neutral:
The cost of having one-chapter arcs is that it limits the depths the arcs can have and how much development can happen within them. The only other arcs that are decent are the Onsen Vacation and Hayato arcs.

The Onsen Vacation arc is another arc which focuses on Ranma's, and Genma's dynamic with Nodoka, where they hide their identities from her. It's not anything that we haven't already seen and feels quite contrived at times (more so than usual) but I have a soft spot for the humor that this character dynamic results in and at least in this one Nodoka did manage to see male Ranma for a bit.

The Hayato arc is very average. The mask angle is interesting until it is revealed that the only reason Hayato won't take off the mask is due to an old bet with Ukyo. Ranma 1/2 is a comedic manga, but I felt like the mask dynamic could've been used for an interesting plot point, instead of a joke. Because of that decision, the result is a bog-standard arc.

Cons:
The two remaining one-chapter arcs are frankly so stupid that they aren't worth going in-depth for. The Mushrooms of Time arc on the other hand is promising. It has an interesting premise which it wastes with its execution. Having Ranma and Ryoga turn into children could result in countless different and unique scenarios depending on which supporting characters are utilized. However the arc doesn't delve into any of those potential scenarios, it's mainly just repetitive squabbling between Ranma and Ryoga about who will get the right-size mushroom. As soon as one might gain the upper hand and something interesting could happen, the scenario resets back to square one and the fight starts once more. The only surprising aspect was how Nabiki got Ranma and Ryoga to stop fighting by lying and saying that there weren't any mushrooms left, thus crushing their fighting spirits.

To complement the Date Started and Days Taken changes, there should also be an option to sort by Days Taken. (Would be nice to easily see which game took the longest days wise as well.)

Decided to review the Ranma manga volumes individually from now on instead of only at the very end. Although I've started quite late since this is volume 32.

November 25th - Ranma 1/2 Volume 32 - 7/10

Pros:
Volume 32 has three different arcs: the Rouge, White Lily, and Battle Dogi arcs. I'll discuss them in the order they appeared, starting with the Rouge arc.

This arc sees Pantyhose Taro return once more and face off against the titular character of the arc, Rouge. What I especially enjoyed about this arc was that we saw two characters who are both stronger in their cursed forms battle it out with each other. I also liked seeing Taro's and Ranma's friendship get some development as that was an avenue that was mostly unexplored up to that point.

The White Lily arc is the least interesting of the three arcs since it has a focus on Kodachi and a new character, Asuka. I liked that despite Kodachi acting like Ranma was her boyfriend and making him go on a double date with her, there is no doubt that he's with Akane. At this point in the story, Akane is so understanding about the shenanigans that happen that she lets him go on a date with Kodachi. This is so that Ranma can be proven as the best boyfriend.

The Battle Dogi arc has a similar premise to the Super Soda arc, where through some way Akane becomes stronger than Ranma. However, due to this one taking place much later in the series, it has more of a love focus, which I enjoy. The scene where Ranma gets caught up in his feelings during his trick to be especially nice to Akane, which leaves both of them speechless is so sweet. The reference to the first movie with the "Seven Lucky Gods" wallet was completely unexpected but one I appreciate.

Neutral:
I think the scene where Ranma calls Akane cute for the first time was supposed to have a greater impact than it did, mostly because I swore that he would've called her cute at least once before. Although those were likely only internal, which is why this moment's effect felt a bit diluted. But the reaction to that moment saves the scene. I was expecting an emotional response from Akane, but she didn't believe him. That's because Ranma broke her trust with the aforementioned trick, which makes total sense.

Bonus:
As a bonus, I'll list my favourite joke from every arc, since Ranma 1/2 is a very funny manga and there are a lot of great jokes which get a good chuckle out of me. For the Rouge arc, it's when everyone punches Taro for supposedly peeping on Rouge and then doing it again right after she cries, even though he tries to clear his name. For the White Lily arc, it's when Akane is rooting for Ranma during Kodachi's and Asuka's standoff and then both of them butting in that their competition has nothing to do with her. Lastly, for the Battle Dogi arc, my favourite joke was Ranma's female form not fitting into the dogi, Ranma complaining about it and then getting beat up by Akane who overheard the remark.

I finished the second ending of Taraimawashi, which you read later than the rest of it. Because of that, I've decided to post my full and updated Taraimawashi review here. I have left the original completion date since that accounts for the majority of this chapter's playtime.

September 3rd - Higurashi When They Cry: Taraimawashi - 4h 8m - (100%) - Beat the chapter, read all the tips and the all-cast review.

Here's my review:
Pros:
Taraimawashi is the first console chapter you play and even though it is very short, it still adds interesting information worth considering. The first notable piece of information is that the great disaster happens no matter what, unlike Ch3 where it could be a supernatural force that grants Keiichi's wish to have Hinamizawa perish. The second is that both Mion and Shion went missing around the time that Satoshi disappeared which could mean that they have more involvement in that case than you were first let on.

Before this chapter, I was also under the impression that the right thing for Keiichi to do was to ignore all the strange things happening around him and act normal, but with the existence of the great disaster, that solution is futile.

Despite its short length, Taraimawashi's ending still manages to leave a strong impression due to its sudden nature. You just go 10 years into the future where Mion is the sole survivor of the disaster and in an amnesiac-like state. It's very shocking and frankly harrowing.

Taraimawashi's second ending, which you read much later, eludes to the fact that the disaster is fishy and that there might've not been a disaster at all, but the clue Rena gives is cryptic so I don't know what it could mean. If the chapter had stated that the hamster died from a natural cause like starvation for example, that could potentially prove that there was no gas at all, but it doesn't clarify anything like that, so I'm left dumbfounded how this clue would help Mion figure out the secret behind the disaster.

I got hooked on Kingdom Rush so I finished it in 2 days which is blazing fast for me.

November 21st - Kingdom Rush - 18h 42m - (Main+) 6/10 - Started: November 19th - Days Taken: 2 - Beat the campaign on normal and heroic. Beat all but the last two optional bosses. Got 68/74 achievements.

Here's my review:
Pros:
Whenever I played the web version of Kingdom Rush, it was too difficult and I could never finish it, but the Steam version fixed these options with the ability to use heroes. It turned out to be much easier than I was expecting. But maybe it was also partly due to better strategy on my part as I was able to beat every campaign level on heroic as well. The optional boss levels added a lot of post-game content for more dedicated players and provided further strategic depth to the game. For the harder levels, you had to figure out which hero to use, where to place towers, which upgrades were better than others, etc. Knowing the waves beforehand also lets you plan ahead and account for difficult waves. Although I only had to use this level of strategy on one level, I was able to beat the other optional levels first try. Even with this caveat, it was fun to utilize the Kingdom Rush's unique micromanagement aspect. Alongside placing and upgrading towers, you also had to move around your soldiers and hero to tackle the most important threat. This adds a lot of depth to the gameplay as you have to juggle all these various aspects at once.

Kingdom Rush has a nice cartoon aesthetic for its art style. I especially enjoyed that every tower and its upgrades are easily identifiable, which is useful when the gameplay gets chaotic. Combined with the game's satisfying sound effects, it's a joy to play, especially when your defences are doing their jobs and are efficiently decimating the enemy forces.

Neutral:
The last two optional boss levels felt a bit too overturned compared to the rest of the levels. It's a non-stop onslaught of enemies with very little chance of saving yourself. I tried various strategies and couldn't even come close to beating either one of them. But I can't fault the game too much for the difficulty, since these are the last few optional levels and you can always lower the difficulty if you're struggling.

I'm still mostly playing Higurashi and multiplayer games, so I can't nominate those. Instead, I'll nominate Mini Metro, since I've played that again recently and I enjoyed it. It wouldn't be much of a commitment either, since I can do a couple of levels every day.

I think that Metaphor: Refantazio should win GOTY, another top-tier game from Atlus. I do think that Persona 3 Reload should've been nominated for something and got snubbed. It was a great remake of P3 that brought it up to the standards of P5R. Lastly no a DLC should never be nominated for GOTY, it's a DLC, not a game. A new DLC category should've been created if they wanted to include DLC in the awards.

I finished Tsumihoroboshi, the 6th main arc of Higurashi and the second answer arc.

November 14th - Higurashi When They Cry: Tsumihoroboshi - 19h 36m - (100%) - Started November 3rd - 11 Days Taken - Beat the chapter, read all the tips and the staff room.

Here's my review:
Pros:
Tsumihoroboshi is action-packed with amazing moments. While other chapters had one or two standout scenes, Chapter 6 has three, which are comparatively longer and more memorable than the previous moments as well. I'll discuss these three moments in detail and why they work so well, but I'll first get some general positives out of the way.

The Tsumihoroboshi's music keeps up the same quality that Ch5 had, with multiple fantastic songs, my personal favourites being Pros, Z.E.R.O, Escape, Cradle Song, and Birth and Death. The opening theme Qualia of the Shining Sky added to the chapter by 07th Mod is great as well, it has a better ending than the other openings so far and has a repeating beat that makes the song feel more coherent.

One benefit is that the chapter has a fast pace, especially at the beginning. It only takes 3 chapters to get to the meat and potatoes of the chapter, which starts with Rena's ENTIRE backstory. (I'll get back to this later.) It only keeps escalating from there with Rina being introduced, made a villain and disposed of within 3 chapters. By that point, you're only halfway through the chapter but you have no idea where the chapter could go from there as there was a resolution to Rena's murders. In classic Higurashi style, one event then naturally sets the trajectory for the remainder of the chapter and brings that to its conclusion. Even before the third part, Tsumihoroboshi starts strong with some non-linear storytelling, specifically a flash forward to something Rena has done, which immediately hooks the player and leaves them thinking about what it could be. By the time the player is about to reach that scene, they will have mostly forgotten about the start of the chapter but will eventually realize what's about to happen and how it all slots together.

That scene is of course the scene where the group discovers that Rena has done the horrible deed of murdering Rina and Teppei, but despite that still manage to forgive her. Keiichi pulls it off by telling her that they're friends and that friends trust each other. Friends don't face their problems alone, forcing them to carry all that mental baggage by themselves. No, instead they reach out and help solve problems together. This may seem a little corny from the outside looking in, but it connects to what is a fundamental core of Higurashi's story. If you think about it, a lot of the problems in the previous chapters came from people not trusting their friends and not talking it out with them. In Ch1 Keiichi stopped trusting his friends after he found out about Hinamizawa's dark past, a similar thing happened in Ch2, where the catalyst for the entire debacle could've been avoided if Mion had talked about it to Keiichi. In Ch3, Keiichi believes that he has to solve Satoko's problem by himself, instead of as a group. Lastly, in Ch5, Shion snaps because she stopped trusting in Mion and that the Sonozaki's couldn't have been behind Satoshi's disappearance. After five chapters of mostly misery and betrayal, it is refreshing to see something good happen for once—something unequivocally good that makes you smile.

This point of trust is reinforced further throughout the chapter. When Rena and Keiichi start believing in Takano's theories, Rena stops trusting Mion and tells Keiichi to not talk about the theories with her. The Keiichi we saw in Ch1, 2 and 3, would've followed these orders and continued living in fear, doubting his friends, but due to the aforementioned scene, in Ch6 Keiichi knows the power of trusting his friends and decides to tell Mion anyway. He immediately finds out that the theories in Takano's scrapbook are complete nonsense. After clearing that first seemingly insurmountable hurdle, he is rewarded for his trust.

The second standout scene in Tsumihoroboshi is the one in the classroom the morning after Rena has gone into hiding. We get some backstory for Keiichi which greatly fleshes him out and lets him fully escape the somewhat basic cookie-cutter protagonist role he had before. This backstory comes in the form of Keiichi talking about his past to Mion, Satoko and Rika, including the secrets he had been hiding. This makes Keiichi realize that what happened in the past doesn't matter as long as you are forgiven for your mistakes and have learned from them.

Up to this point in the chapter, astute players would've noticed the striking similarities that Ch1 and Ch6 share. Ooishi calls a person out to his car and explains what happened on the night of the Watanagashi, which leads to that person doubting their friends. The key difference is that in Ch6 instead of that person being Keiichi, it is Rena. These similarities aren't merely a nod, but they are crucial to Ch6's story as in this scene Keiichi manages to (somehow) remember what transpired in Ch1. Right after learning a valuable life lesson, he is crushed by the realization that he can't be forgiven by Rena and Mion for murdering them in Ch1 because they're dead in that chapter. Keiichi doesn't let this make him hopeless however and turns this tragedy and misfortune around into determination to prevent the same from happening to Rena. In the scene before this one, Rika gives up on the current chapter's Rena and Hinamizawa. She resigns herself to her death and is ready to await the next Hinamizawa, which will likely be more of the same. She has completely given up on making any difference in the current timeline/time loop. The main reason why this scene is amazing is that Keiichi's determination and remembering the events of Ch1 (which Rika believed should have been impossible) shows her that there is hope for her escaping her situation, that she can make a difference and help avoid the tragedy. It's a fundamental shift in her perspective going forward. Likely one she held when she started looping before she became disillusioned at her lack of progress towards escaping the time loop.

You may think that it's unreasonable for Rika to become disillusioned especially when there are many things she could do to help prevent her death, but you have to realize that she's been stuck in the time loop for around 100 years without ever managing to find a solution. This implies that the solution to Rika's death is much more complicated than we might at first imagine. Being stuck in a time loop for 100 years also means that Rika's mental age and the age of her body are so drastically different. To the extent that she feels disconnected from her body and resorts to alcohol to drown out her problems. The biggest thing we learn about Rika's situation however is the existence of a mysterious character who's by Rika's side. It's implied that she's the supernatural one who knows about the future, including when Rika is going to die instead of Rika herself. This is because Rika asks her for that information in one of the tips. She also seems to be the one who seems to have caused the problem, so she's probably behind the time loop in some way.

The third standout scene in Tsumihoroboshi is actually the entire last part of the chapter. It covers Rena's last-ditch attempt to reach "victory" and expose the conspiracy she believes in. At this point, everyone except Rena has realized that the theories in Miyo's scrapbook are false and that she's being delusional. Rena is very clever and devises a hostage situation which results in the school blowing up, with almost no way to avoid it. I thought that this chapter would end in a tragedy like all the previous chapters and there were moments within this last part where I was certain that would be the case. If you had been paying attention to Keiichi's character development throughout all the chapters so far you would've noticed that Keiichi does trust his friends more in each chapter, just not enough to make a difference in the outcome. However, in this chapter, it does make a difference. To further reinforce the message of the chapter, the bad endings are avoided when Keiichi puts his full trust in his friends and their abilities. It is only with that level of cooperation that they manage to diffuse Rena's hostage situation and that Keiichi makes her realize the error of her ways. Finally, tragedy has been avoided.

Neutral:
The one minor nitpick I have for this chapter is that maybe Rena's backstory could've been shown in a more diegetic way. Previous character's backstories are given piecemeal throughout their respective chapters mostly from other characters. Meanwhile, Rena just reminisces on her life and you get given everything in one go, which devalues the backstory compared to if it had been given another way. Especially since Keiichi's backstory was given similarly, but he was prompted to tell it by Rena not trusting him, because he didn't tell her about his past.

Managed to beat another short game while on break, although this one was a bit more disappointing than I had hoped. Now back to Higurashi it is for me.

November 3rd - SUPERHOT - 5h 30m - (Main+) 4/10 - Started November 1st - 2 Days Taken - Beat the game, two challenges and got 18/26 achievements.

Here's my review:
Pros:
The fake OS works well as a framing narrative, pushing the story forward later. It immerses you into the world and creates some great meta moments. I especially liked the one where the main character acknowledges that he's not even typing any of the words that he's been typing. Another great one was where the game does take you actual keyboard inputs so it ends up being random gibberish.

Neutral:
The story is quite intriguing with the player getting trapped within the game and being forced to upload themselves into the algorithm and then kill themselves. However, it still leaves a bit to be desired since it doesn't explain who created the program or why they did it. What is the program's ultimate goal? Why kill persistent players who get too far into the game? The game could've used a second act after you join the machine where questions like these are revealed. Maybe they're addressed in the sequel, but it makes this one's story feel a bit half-baked.

The time-stop mechanic that makes SUPERHOT unique is used to great effect, making for some very fun and creative levels. Adding on top of this the hotswitch mechanic makes you feel like a badass when you pull off a cool play. The problem is that those moments aren't the most frequent. I never quite got the hang of the time-stopping and sometimes the amount of time progression felt inconsistent, which would often lead to a bullet in the face. The optimal strategy was to tap the movement key so you could inch forward which isn't the most exciting gameplay either and was very repetitive at times. The difficulty of the story mode is on the higher end of difficulty, but the difficulty curve is decent enough and challenges the player a good amount.

Cons:
What I have real gripes with is the bonus content, I know they are meant for advanced players who want more, but the difficulty spike is almost insane. At the very least the challenges should be ranked by difficulty so that you know where to start. For example, the first challenge I did was much harder than the second one. The endless levels were also crazy difficult, even more so than the other challenges. I wanted to see how close I could get to 100 percenting the game but the repetitive gameplay and frustrating difficulty made me give up. It wasn't fun getting shot in the back by an enemy you didn't know existed because you weren't checking all around you every second.

Finally finished another game after 2 months although admittedly a short one.

November 1st - Stray - 7h 24m - (Main+) 7/10 - Started October 28th - 4 Days Taken - Beat the game, got all memories and badges and got 16/24 of the achievements.

Here's my review:

Pros:
Stray uses the fact that you play as a cat as its main hook and even though the cat can't communicate outside of meows, it still manages to craft a unique story around the strengths of a cat. The gameplay consists of you jumping, climbing and clambering all over the place to progress to the next area or for objects you need to find. I especially enjoyed the 4th chapter Slums because it was the most fleshed-out and detailed area. From a cat's perspective, it felt huge and every area felt explorable. Every rooftop had multiple paths to reach it, making the area feel more realistic and lived in compared to the other chapters.

Most of the exposition in the game is done through B-12 who reveals more about the world's past as you collect his memories. It slowly adds to the game, with some bigger twists than I had imagined. The fact that the main collectables are memories as well is nice as it expands the lore for the dedicated players. There are two points in the story where the cat has a more active part in telling it. The part at the beginning before you meet B-12 sets the mood and the dark and grungy setting you'll be spending most of the game in. It also makes you feel alone, because you are. It's only after you meet B-12 that there is a tonal shift and you start meeting the robots. The second moment is when you are escaping the prison and the cat goes out of his way to save B-12 because he considers him a friend at that point. The ending is quite sad as B-12 sacrifices himself so that the cat can escape although it is mostly a hopeful ending as it also opens up the roof of the walled city, bringing light in.

There are also a lot of aspects that add to the immaculate vibes of the game. There are points where you can just sleep, with no incentive or reason to, but just so you can bask in the glory of CAT.

Neutral:
The area I enjoyed the most was the Slums because it was the biggest one and felt more non-linear compared to the rest. It would've been nice if some of the other areas were in a style closer to that. Even Midtown which comes the closest is quite a bit more linear with rooms that don't open up until later.

Watched the second P3 movie Midsummer Knight's Dream.

Rating: 6/10
Here's my review:

Pros:
The second Persona 3 movie, Midsummer Knight's Dream makes a lot of changes to the base story of Persona 3, but most of them improve the story and its pacing, instead of harming it. The biggest change is that Ken and Shinjiro join SEES much earlier than in the game. You would think that this would make Ken kill Shijni earlier than in the original but this is accounted for by making him at first believe that his mother was killed by shadows. This allows them to bond more with the rest of the cast and the viewer to get more attached to them. During the Hermit boss fight we see Shinjiro lose control of his Persona, a great example of show don't tell. This moment is also what makes Ken realize that Shinjiro was actually the one that killed his mother and we see him more conflicted over this than he was in the game because by spending more time on the team, he built a stronger bond with them.

Strega is introduced in this movie and they are slightly more threatening than in the game. Before the Chariot and Justice fight, instead of just closing the doors on the SEES crew, which always felt a bit lame, they activated the emergency alarm system. This started a flow of poisonous gas which affected the party members and also brought forth the shadow, ultimately a much more effective way to try to get rid of SEES than in the game.

The last positive change I want to touch on is Aigis's introduction. Instead of meeting with her on the dock and following her into the forest, she just runs away from the dock without anything else happening. Another change is that the scene with Yukari on the beach takes place during the dark hour. These changes seem meaningless on their own but come together when Yukari and Makoto are ambushed on the beach by shadows without their evokers. Then Aigis comes to rescue them. Yet another great example of show don't tell. We could've been told that Aigis is an anti-shadow weapon and then seen her in combat, but instead, we first see her in combat and only after that we do get an explanation as to what she is. This creates a more memorable impression and is more shocking.

Neutral:
A change that doesn't work, is combining the scenes where Strega gives Shinjiro his meds and them killing targets for money. I get that this was made to save on time and all in all it doesn't make a big difference, but it's still important to note. The killing in question happens before the deal with Shinjiro, but he shows up immediately afterwards. It makes Shinjiro seem like a heartless person, he doesn't even try to stop the murder that happened right in front of him. This also conflicts with later in the movie, where he decides to save Ken when he shows up in the dark hour.

Cons:
A change I dislike, however, is giving Junpei's character arc to Makoto. In the movie, it's Makoto who is wondering whether dismantling the dark hour is the right choice because he likes the power it gives him. This storyline works for Junpei because he felt powerless without the power of his Persona and he was always sidelined for Makoto who was the battle leader. In the previous movie, Makoto was apathetic and didn't care about the dark hour, so much that he almost skipped out on the second mission. But now he is suddenly so invested in his newfound powers that he doesn't want to lose them? This character arc does give Makoto more personality but that shouldn't come at the expense of the arcs of the other characters.

I'll nominate Stray since that's what I'm currently playing and I have nothing else I can nominate.

Here's my review for the Ranma 1/2 2011 Live Action special, which I watched a couple of days ago. (I have no idea how the review got as long as it did. I guess I just had a lot to say.)

Rating: 7/10
Here's my review:

Pros:
I was not expecting this movie to adapt the story's beginning again. It makes sense as it is trying to reach a new audience, although I honestly don't know how successful that would be. Since I don't think there are many people who watch dramas like this that would be willing to watch a 22-year-old anime, let alone read the manga.

But that's beside the point for this review, how good is the movie itself? Well for one almost every part of this movie is adapted from the manga, they just kind of mashed together various arcs into one movie. You would think that this is a disaster waiting to happen, but honestly, it just kind of works. This is due to taking a lot of liberties with the source materials and making a lot of little changes that at first may seem confusing and baffling but end up working in the movie's favor.

The biggest change the movie makes for the sake of its plot is that the spring of drowned man in Japan (the same one from that one manga arc) belongs to the Tendos. This results in Ranma being engaged to Akane from the start instead of getting to choose because Akane was always going to inherit the dojo so that she can protect the spring. Doctor Tofu is also employed by the Tendos as the school nurse so he can keep an eye on it. (The spring is actually underneath the girl's locker room instead of just one of the urns like the story it's adapting.)

Inheriting and protecting the dojo is made a more important part of Akane's character in this adaptation than in the original. Instead of the walk-in in the bath being the biggest source of Akane's disdain towards Ranma, it's that he insults the dojo. To symbolize this further, she carries a necklace from her mother which is revealed to be the key to the spring and was given to her for the express purpose of defending it. To protect the spring, she even offers to be taken hostage and be doused in the spring in place of Kasumi.

Since this is a full movie adaptation it can have an overarching message throughout the movie, which is that both genders are equal and that one isn't better than the other. Even though it is quite basic, it does fit Ranma 1/2 surprisingly well, especially due to the way the movie portrays it. The movie starts with Ranma disliking his female form and being unwilling to use it even in a situation where it would benefit him (in this case sneaking into the girl's locker room). The idea that Ranma's female form is weaker than his male form is used by the villains as well. The secret that Hikaru tells Kuno is that Ranma turns into a girl. (He still manages to misunderstand it lmao.) The main villain Kamoyo Okamada is the only fully original character in the movie. He's a drag queen who plans to turn all women into men because he believes women are disgusting and men are just more beautiful. At the start of the final fight of the movie, he intentionally splashes Ranma with water so that he'll be easier to defeat. But Ranma disproves him by beating him even while a girl and accepts that both his forms are equal.

Due to taking place near the beginning of the story, the movie doesn't feature the full cast of characters. While it would've been interesting to see how they would've adapted Happosai, Cologne and Shampoo's and Mousse's cursed forms into a live-action medium, it does allow them to give some characters more screen time. This mostly applies to Dr. Tofu who we see use his martial arts skills in combat, which was only ever mentioned in the anime. I also liked the references to Happosai and the principal, because it shows that the movie knows its source material.

One joke I particularly liked was when Genma gave a sob story to Akane about Ranma's mother passing away so that she would feel closer to him, potentially pushing forward the engagement, but this story is completely false as we know. The reason I like it so much is that this is a joke they could've only made with the hindsight of the story being complete.

Neutral:
The movie also has a bunch of small changes, like making the characters even more exaggerated than they already were. Nabiki really likes Genma's panda form because she thinks she can make money off him somehow. Another recurring joke is that Kasumi takes forever to cook food and spends most of her time doing so. For some reason, Genma also spends a lot more time in his panda form than he probably should. He just enters some scenes while a panda with no explanation as to why that is. The amount of water required to trigger the change also seems much higher in this movie as in the first fight, Ranma and Genma don't change despite fighting within a fountain and in another scene, in the bath Ranma doesn't change until he is fully submerged.

Cons:
Despite most of the changes made by the movie enhancing it, there are a couple that baffles me. Kuno's introduction is probably the most downgraded one. He is fighting the school mob that wants to date Akane to prove himself to her. The problem is that his declaration is what caused the formation of the mob, to begin with. Him falling in love with the pig-tailed girl is what makes the least sense however. Instead of being defeated by her first and then falling in love with her. Ranma just kind of stands there and then Kuno just declares his love for his female form, only after which Ranma defeats Kuno. While the scene of Kuno being told Ranma's secret does further the message of the movie, it doesn't end up going anywhere. Kuno never exploits the weakness he found out about.

The movie also downplays Akane's abilities while improving everyone else's. Ranma, Genma and Kuno are all given special moves. The whole idea behind Anything Goes Martial Arts is that they don't specialize in any one technique but can learn techniques from other doctrines. Although this movie doesn't mention the name of the doctrine that Ranma and Genma follow, so I'll give it a pass. What I can't give a pass however is that Akane loses to Kuno and that Ranma has to save her. In the anime, Kuno goes easy on Akane because he loves her, but in this movie, Akane just looks weak. I'm guessing this is to support the fact that she manages to get kidnapped later in the movie.

This movie's plot is much better than what you would expect for this type of live-action action adaptation, but it cracks under pressure if you think about it too hard. And that's all because of one gag at the very end of the movie. When it is revealed that the spring of drowned man has been replaced by regular hot water, it's done through a scroll on the wall that unfurls. This joke works in the manga and anime because the cast was following some very old legends, that didn't reflect this new information. But in this version of the story, the Tendos control the spring, and Soun knows where it is located. If the spring had run out of its magical properties without him realizing it, that would be a fine enough explanation, but that doesn't work since the scroll was placed there by someone intentionally. You would think that crucial information such as the spring not working anymore would've been passed through generations. Soun even kept the spring a secret from his own daughters, because of its power and giving the necklace to Akane so she can protect it shows how important the spring is to the family. But when this major plot twist is revealed to him, something that should shake him to the core, it's played off as a joke. Like what?

One final point is that when Akane and Ranma are splashed with the supposed spring of drowned man, she gets emotional because she believes that the spring's effects are delayed and that she'll soon turn into a guy forever. This scene is played completely straight, but I couldn't take it seriously, because nowhere in the movie was it established that the spring's effects were delayed. Akane would have no reason to believe that this is the case either because she's seen that Genma's and Ranma's changes are instant without any delay.

Finished Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 Volume 4, which is the final volume of part 2 and has a great climax.

October 22nd - Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 Volume 4 - 9/10

Here's my review:

For this review, I will first review part 2 as a whole and then review volume 4 on its own.

Pros:
Part 2 sees Myne slowly but surely march toward her goal of producing books and improving the production process. While this is happening, the scale of the story is also increasing, with Myne going on trips outside the city, meeting the knight's order and the true power of her mana being revealed. A highlight of this progression is the scene at the end of volume 2, where Ferdinand looks into Myne's memories. This gives a greater glimpse into Myne's life when she was Urano than the opening of the first volume of the first part. It ends up being quite emotional because Myne didn't know what she had before it was too late and now she can never get that back.

Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 Volume 4 continues the build-up from part 2 and brings it to a climax that far surpasses any previous ones. It starts with a count being let into the city without permission. Myne is then nearly kidnapped by this count's goons but is saved by Gunther. You would think that this would be enough of a tense moment for now, but the book doesn't let up in the slightest.

Once Myne returns to the temple, she is immediately accosted by the count who snuck in, Bindewald and the person who he was in cahoots with, the High Bishop. This leads to a drawn-out fight which Ferdinand and Sylvester join to turn the tides. The battle ends up being much darker than I thought it would be, compared to the light-hearted nature of the rest of the book. Several of the High Bishop's attendants get erased from existence due to the power of a magic blast.

The biggest plot twist in the book however is that Sylvester, the comedic noble is the archduke of all people. You expect the archduke to be some serious figure you wouldn't meet until much later but here he is. Sylvester even visits the commoner's forest of his own volition, which further prevents the reader from seeing this plot twist coming.

The end of the book is also quite surprising and emotional. Myne has to abandon her former family and be declared dead so that she can become the adopted daughter of the archduke. This is a huge jump from being an apprentice shrine maiden and makes me curious about where parts 3 and 4 will bring Myne.

I finished Meakashi which is the 5th main arc of Higurashi and the first answer arc.

October 22nd - Higurashi When They Cry: Meakashi - 16h 24m - (100%) - Beat the chapter, read all the tips and the staff room.

Pros:
As the first answer arc, Meakashi delivers, answering most of the questions laid out in Watanagshi such as the syringe Rika had and how Mion stabbed Keiichi after she was supposedly already dead. It does this while leaving mysteries for the remaining chapters and even creating new ones, such as who Rika was calling to when she died.

This chapter greatly benefits from the POV character being Shion instead of Keiichi, like in most of the question arcs. It allows the reader to understand the dynamic that Mion and Shion have and how close they are. Alongside that, the chapter starting a year earlier gives insight into Satoshi's disappearance and the twist that he was the one who murdered his aunt.

The big twist that Shion was the one who committed the murders while pretending to be Mion was surprising yet made a lot of sense considering her love for Satoshi and wanting to punish those responsible. This leads perfectly to the moment where she realizes Satoko's strength and how she failed to keep her promise to Satoshi. To further crumble Shion's motivations she finds out that the Sonozakis aren't responsible for the murders, which is easily the most direct clue given to the reader so far.

Meakashi also has the most memorable soundtrack so far, with a bunch of great pieces, such as Solitude, Thanks, Confession, Shadow and of course the ending theme You.

Neutral:
The one plot point that could've been explained a bit better was the fact that Mion and Shion switched places permanently at some point before the events of the game and that Mion was born as Shion and vice versa. The reason I was confused by the swap was due to Shion's insanity. I thought that she was so insane that she started believing herself to be the true Mion. She was already pretending to be her after all. Luckily there's a tip at the end of the game that spells it out for you very clearly in case you managed to miss that plot point.

Watched the third and final Ranma 1/2 "movie" One Grew Over the Kuno's Nest yesterday. It was alright, but it suffers from being more of an OVA than an movie, which puts the expectations too high.

Rating: 4/10.
Here's my review:

Pros:
One Grew Over the Kuno's Nest adapts a manga arc and fleshes it out to fit the short film title a bit better. I especially enjoyed the fact that it used more of the main cast. Seeing Ukyo, Ryoga and Shampoo help out to take out a common enemy is something not seen often in the anime. The animation is just as stunning as in the other movies, which does help set it apart from the OVAs.

Neutral:
The reason why that difference is important is because One Grew Over the Kuno's Nest is a unique case. It is considered a short film but is the same length as an OVA. The only difference between this movie and an OVA is that it's in widescreen. Except the openings and endings are in 4:3 and only the movie itself is in the 16:9 resolution. This places it in a weird scenario where they went through the effort of animating the movie to the standard of quality a movie deserves but didn't end up finishing the job by making the whole thing widescreen. I'm unsure why they decided to go down this route, as the movie title sets people's expectations too high for what is mostly a regular OVA. If they wanted to make it closer to a movie and stand out more from the OVAs, they could've made it 10-15 minutes longer and made the movie's ending and opening widescreen as well. Speaking of the opening and ending, another change that could've been made is to make them match the movie itself.

Cons:
The opening Never-Ending Summer Vacation and ending Liar, are great songs on their own, but they don't match the movie in the slightest. You could swap them out with any of the other OVA openings and endings and nothing would change. Even though the other movies didn't have openings, they used that time to set up the film's settings more and their endings were used to create a nice bookend for the movie.

On the other hand, because of the disconnect between the movie and the opening, this movie's opening sets up false expectations, that when destroyed disappoint the viewer right off the bat. Considering the movie's short length, it could've used the opening to squeeze out more valuable runtime, instead of wasting it. The same goes for the ending to a lesser extent since the movie wrapped up fine enough, so there's not much else to resolve through an ending montage like the other two movies.

Watched Bodies Bodies Bodies yesterday as part of a movie night. I don't usually watch horror movies, but this one was decent enough.

Rating: 6/10
Here's my review:

Pros:
One of Bodies bodies bodies greatest strengths is how real it feels. The friend group feels natural and you slowly learn more about the group dynamic as the movie goes on. Everything the group does after the first death makes sense from the perspective of them being drunk, high, a little stupid and a very dysfunctional group in general.

The foreshadowing in the movie is top-tier, with the car battery draining because Bee forgot the light on the, to pills resulting in Emma's death and David trying to replicate Greg's trick leading to his. The plot twist that the first death was a complete accident showcases how toxic the friend group really is, because they immediately turn on each other afterwards.

The best scene in the movie though was the one where the four remaining characters, Alice, Sophie, Bee and Jordan start bickering and fighting. Almost every line is comedy gold, especially Alice trying to be an ally, but she's so drunk/high/stupid that she gets all the terms wrong.

Neutral:
The realness of Bodies Bodies Bodies also comes from its lighting and cinematography. The lighting is wholly diegetic, coming from the character's flashlights, phones and light rings. While it does make the movie feel realistic, it comes at the cost of the actual viewing experience. Some scenes are so dark that it's very hard to see what's going on. The worst offender is the scene where Bee sees Jordan take the gun. I was second-guessing myself, whether I really saw a gun because it was so dark.

The cinematography changes its pace and viewing angle based on the amount of action. During calm scenes, you get wider shots and fewer camera cuts. But during action scenes, the cinematography becomes very frantic, to the point where it's even harder to tell what's happening than it already was. I honestly don't know how Alice died. Did she get shot by the gun going off on accident or did her neck get crushed during the fight?

Watched the second Ranma 1/2 movie, Nihao, My Concubine. It was miles better than the first one.

Rating: 9/10
Here's my review:

Pros:
The biggest improvement Nihao, My Concubine has over the previous movie is its pacing. The first movie only really has 3 parts to it, the start, the chasing in the middle and the fights once the cast reaches Nekonron. It felt like much didn't happen. Meanwhile, this movie does much more with 14 minutes less runtime. You have the introduction, the mysterious part where everyone's being kidnapped, the bridal games and the ending where everyone is being rescued. Each part feels vastly different in tone, making the movie feel more distinct and like more is happening. The movie is a great example of the hero's journey done well with falling and rising action. The introduction is non-linear, hooks the watcher first with some action and then reveals the background as to why the Nerima crew are on an island. The mysterious segment slowly builds tension and mystery, climaxing with the reveal of the main villain Toma. Then you have a break in the action with the more comedic bridal battles and the movie climaxes with the battles where the kidnapped are saved by individual members of the cast. Speaking of the cast.

Unlike the previous movie, Nihao, My Concubine contains all of the main cast. (Except Kodachi, but she's the least important main cast member, so I can live with that.) They are also in arguably more prominent roles than in the 1st movie, where Ranma did most of the fighting. Each cast member gets some time in the spotlight while saving those who were kidnapped but the highlight is easily Mousse's (aside from Ranma's of course). He actually manages to save Shampoo, no ifs and's or buts. Mousse is often used as a comedic character in the anime and doesn't win many fights. That's why I was expecting him to fail or his win to get undercut in some way by Shampoo, but no he fully won by himself and it felt so rewarding to see.

The ending is also amazing, especially with how the status quo is upheld, regarding the water that turns anyone permanently male. In Big Trouble in Nekonron, it's played off as a joke, they merely forgot about Jusenkyo while in China which isn't the worst, but it's handled so much better in this movie. Ranma chooses to save Akane from the pain and suffering that he's gone through with his curse, instead of being selfish and getting rid of his curse. It provides a very emotional ending to the movie's climax.

Despite its shorter runtime, this movie also gives background on Toma and why he would go through with his actions, which makes more sense than the villain's motivations in the 1st movie.

Due to the unique island setting, the main cast is seen in different outfits than normal, which makes the movie stand out more. The bridal dresses are great as well, especially female Ranma's design is top-tier. Due to the island setting, Ranma's appearance is much closer to 50/50 than in the previous movie, which is a plus in my books.

The last thing to note is the soundtrack. The scene where Toma is revealed has some grand music to go with it, which builds up the tension and sounds great. But the real highlight is the ending theme A Piece of Love. It sounds amazing and might be my favourite Ranma 1/2 ending theme out of all of them.

Ravenfield?

Yep, that's it.