State Of the Ticketmaster Address, 2019

Happy 23rd, everyone!

It seems I couldn't stay away..., and I hope some of you chose not to stay away, either. I made a promise to myself and to you out there in the Ticketverse that I wouldn't post any new content on here until my studies had concluded and I was in a position of true financial security and personal happiness. But three and a half years is a long time to put something I love (or, considering the maddening itch that runs through my brain any time I am in arm's length of a computer keyboard, something that I am most likely addicted to, as well) on the back burner. Further evidence of my might-as-well-face-it relationship with writing and blogging can be found in the thought that I finished my first semester of work a month early and I am "entitled to reward myself," and that I have a growing library of anime and comic book reviews gathering digital and mental dust on my computer that I "must share with the world" despite repeated reminders that no one cares what I have to say. By the way, if you're too young to get my love/addiction musical reference (or you don't live in a one-stoplight town that only gets classic rock, country, Spanish-language, and radiovangelism stations), Google Robert Palmer.

And now, Greetings to you all! It doesn't matter if you're a Ticketholder, a Weebotak, a hyper-intelligent chimpanzee, a flaming troll, a newcomer, or an accidental tourist; welcome (back?) to the Ticketverse. I and my many aliases are glad to have you here. At this time of year (by which I mean whenever I get the itchy flop-sweat to be presidential--poor choice of words on my part, as the current President is itching and sweating for a completely different set of reasons, allegedly), I usually rattle off statistics and bits of Ticketverse lore to show how much my obsessive hobby has grown since the previous year. This year, I've decided to focus on myself, rather than readership numbers. Apologies to those of you who may enjoy that stuff, or who feel that by not addressing my readership numbers, I am neglecting my readership. That is not my intention. My intention at this time is to focus on my personal growth and change for reasons that fail me in words but have a feeling of truth to them.

At this time last year, I was employed at a local Subway franchise location. Management was very approachable and helpful, and the job was an opportunity to learn new food preparation skills. I even made a few friends there. But I really had no answer to the classic question of where I saw myself in five years. I rode the bus to work, shutting out the world as I went, punched the clock a few times, worked on one book or another in my free time, rode the bus home, and slept until tomorrow was today again, But thanks in major part to a strong family support system, I am currently enrolled in an online Accounting program with Western Governors' University. As I mentioned earlier, I finished my first semester of coursework a month early, and am working toward keeping that pace going forward, as I have not really taken a break outside of this writing, or watching a few anime, news segments, and TV shows to keep as socially current as I dare. Also thanks to my family, I have successfully negotiated my first ever amicable job transition, and have left Subway in good standing to work at a newly remodeled grocery store in my aforementioned one-stoplight town, and I'm enjoying it as much as I enjoyed working at Subway (though for different reasons). I no longer have to endure a long and costly commute to work, leaving more time and money to more important things like school work and family, as well as guilty pleasures like anime and gourmet donuts.

On the entertainment front, my interest in Supernatural and the Arrowverse shows has waned considerably, to the point that I removed the CW app from my phone. The same is true of Disney's animated Marvel shows and app. I will miss watching them all, but they just don't hold my interest like they used to. I have not worked on my novels or any Retrospective content in over five months, either, though this can be attributed as much to laziness as to mature time allocation. Furthermore, I no longer feel a burning need to watch every anime that catches my eye in its entirety just because; I am a more selective viewer than before.

In anime news, streaming giants Crunchyroll and Funimation parted ways at the end of last year, forcing me to drop the VRV app and seek alternative sources, until Funimation finally got their offline viewing feature up and running. Sadly, for a premium feature, it was riddled with instability bugs and resource-hogging issues, so I decided to give VRV (and HiDIVE, Funimation's replacement on the app) another chance while returning to alternative sources for Funimation's English-dubbed content. VRV is a superior app to FunimationNow in every possible way, except for the fact that Funimation isn't on VRV anymore, and probably never will be again, but we learn to deal with what we cannot change....

And now, a return to formula for some quick anime highlights of early 2019....

My Roommate Is A Cat follows the daily lives of a shut-in mystery writer (a character with whom I identify, being a shut-in writer of sorts myself) and the cat he takes in as his muse for a new story. The series is mostly lighthearted and comedic in focus, but throws in a few--easily telegraphed, but no less powerful--sucker punches to the feels as needed. The segments from the cat's point of view are insightful and emotionally brilliant, and her effect on "her human's" personal development is well written.

Quintessential Quintuplets is a subversive harem anime in which a persistent, diligent male student is hired to tutor the titular 'tuplets, five failing female students who fall in love with him even as they're trying to make his life a living hell. So far the series has remained wholesome and avoided indulging its genre's more salacious tropes, and the only thing more engaging than the How I Met Your Mother watch-bait is actually watching the characters' relationships unfold as Quint-Quints progresses toward its one-of-a-kind reveal.

Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka is, obviously, an anime about a magical girl named Asuka. But Sailor Moon it is not. Putting more literal emphasis on the "Pretty Soldier" aspect of the genre, it's more like Magical Girl Raising Project crossed with Full Metal Panic! and Fullmetal Alchemist, but with Goblin Slayer-meets-Berserk levels of blood and body horror. As derivative and divisive as that sounds, Asuka does a commendable job of addressing PTSD, the local and global effects of terrorism, and the duty and responsibility of being a soldier. It also doesn't hurt things that there's an ongoing mystery, an almost full cast of likable and charismatic characters, and bloody, badass fight sequences. The horror movie references used to classify the various monsters (flesh-eating plushies?!) were a welcome trick of a treat, as well.

Meiji Tokyo Renka is unique in that it's a female-driven harem/isekai series. A modern day girl who is ostracized for her ability to see and talk to spirits gets sent back in time by a magician (voiced by Ian Sinclair in the dub, so immediate score) to meiji-era Tokyo, where she crosses paths with a number of Japanese historical celebrities who inevitably have spirit-related problems. It's cute, it's funny, and it's cheesy as hell. The "convenient problem-solving protagonist with harem" mechanic has been used to death, but I kind of love this series anyway.

Endro! caught my attention by almost immediately finger-snapping the fourth wall out of existence and making me wonder what I was watching and how I had managed to sleep through half of a thirty-minute episode in less than two minutes. It's a cutely animated, self-aware fantasy anime that repeatedly draws attention to the fact that its world is a trope-heavy video game environment (demon lords, character classes, quests, loot chests, that "trespass and smash everything" mechanic from Legend of Zelda, etc.), like Pinkie Pie and the PG version of Deadpool randomly decided to make their own JRPG adaptation.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly is a spectacular watch for any Dragon Ball fan. Not perfect (the age retcon on Goku, the missed opportunity to explain Broly's forms and integrate them into the canon through comparison with Kale, and the heroes' ass-pull escape to practice a new technique in the middle of a fight, to name a few), but the animation is smooth and crisp, the character development is better than anything in the Super series, and the fights are insane in the absolute best sense of the word. If you like Dragon Ball, support the official release and buy this sucker when it comes out on Blu-Ray on April 16 this year.

Date A Live III, the third season of a harem anime that I previously gave the BAW treatment to last year, is the opposite of the two harem selections above, in that it's more indulgent in Japanese depravity (comic relief nudity and relationships that involve considerable age gaps, pseudo-relatives, and yuri fanservice pretty much covers it). But the extent of said indulgence does little to take away from the series actually having a good plot, decent character development arcs, epic fight sequences, and good overall pacing. The second arc of this season is my favorite, as it pretty much ensures we will get a DAL IV, relies on character-driven action rather than harem shenanigans, and puts focus on Kurumi, the series' bloodthirsty, time-manipulating antiheroine who so hooked me in season two.

I hope everyone has a great year!

For now, it's time for me to get back to studying Macroeconomics so I can learn about unemployment and inflation ratios!

But first, an episode of Endro!

Ticketmaster!
Out!