July 2022 Reccomendations

Yotsuba&!: Lately, I have been seeing lots of art and illustrations online from the slice-of-life comedy manga, Yotsuba&!. The illustrations are very solidly drawn and perfectly encapsulate the feeling of childhood whimsy, expressed through its use of watercolors and lovingly drawn props... I saved a few of these illustrations and asked my best friend if he could lend me some of his volumes from the series. Turns out Yotsuba is actually one of his favorite manga, and he was excited to help me start reading it! I adore Yotsuba&! to pieces.... I've been reading a couple chapters before bed every night, and Im about 8 volumes in at the time of writing. Im unsure of how to properly express my fondness for this manga... it is so accurate in its portrayal of the unique and mundane (yet magical) experiences of childhood, and the entire cast is very lovable-- especially the titular Yotsuba. And the drawings are just amazing.... the panelling is clever and resourceful and makes every emotional beat and comedic punchline all the more impactful. Please read Yotsuba..... a very fitting read for a cozy summer night, accompanied by ACNL music and a glass of milk....

Queerjunk's Serial Experiments Lain Analysis Series: I've been rewatching Serial Experiments Lain recently, which is known to be a pretty dense and esoteric show... On my first watch, I mostly enjoyed the ambience and unique, otherworldly atmosphere of the show, but had a difficult time piecing together the narrative and themes of Lain. I was still incredibly intrigued by the concepts I could grasp, however, so to help me better understand the show on my second watch, I've been following up every episode with its respective analysis video from the youtube channel, Queerjunk. They analyze each episode individually, breaking down scenes and explaining the various nuances and themes of Lain in a way that is very coherent and enjoyable to watch. Maybe its just because its my second time watching the anime, but things seem to make sense now, and I can better understand the ideas presented by the show...