Things I enjoyed in April 2026
What a month... It felt like 2 months. In fact, this post has twice the stuff the previous posts in this series had. Yay! As we need to decide where to start, let's start from something easy!
Fancy a game of cards? ๐ถ
I've already written an entire post on the Kingdom Hearts Chain Of Memories light novel, focusing on the differences from the game. I really enjoyed revisiting a game I love so much in a different form. It reigneited my love for Repliku. Stupid fuckboy...
An arba-Blast from the past ๐ถ
All my readings from April were light novels. It's ok, sometimes you just need to immerse yourself in something familiar, right? Some years ago, I started reading the Full Metal Panic novels. I don't remember if it was before or after Invisibile Victory, the latest anime series, but I never reached the novels telling that story (7 to 9, if my source is correct). The Second Raid (the anime series just before that), however, stopped at novel 5, so what happened to the sixth? An audio drama. And yes, I totally get why Full Metal Panic! Dancing very merry Christmas was never adapted into anime. It doesn't really impact the grand scheme of the narrative. It could have totally be a filler episode, if not for a single thing: how Sousuke's feelings for Kaname and Tessa developes in this story. And that works for me, characters are basically what I read FMP for. I honestly forgot how much Souji Gatou (the writer) was into weapons in general, he goes very specific at times and I honestly couldn't care less. It's a nice read anyway, I'll eventually read all the missing novels in the future.
Forget 2B and 9S, it's 2D and 9H now ๐ถ
Ok, last novel I got to read in April. NieR:Automata - YoRHa Boys is a prequel to the game based on a live stage, featuring a new cast of seven YoRHa androids with a male frame on their mission to save mankind. It was written by Jun Eishima, author of most of the Drakenier universe "side" tales, with the supervision of series creator Yoko Taro. I only read a couple of manga written by her, specifically Utahime Five and Shi ni Itaru Aka, both related to Drakengard 3, and I think this one might be my favourite work from her so far.
The story is what you can expect from this series: bizzare and crazy characters and, of course, tragedy. It's a nice read and, if you like Automata like I do, a no brainer recommendation. If you have trouble connecting with Automata characters, this might help recontextualize them. You don't even need to know anything that isn't already referenced in Automata. You don't even need to play Replicant if you, for whatever reason, don't want to do that!
from a massive narrative universe to the other ๐ถ
You know another novel I'd like to read in the future? The Fate/Strange Fake one. It was by written Ryougo Narita and set in the Fate universe (or, more precisely, in the Nasuverse). I've always really enjoyed adaptations of Narita's works: I'm really attached to Baccano! and Durarara!!, two anime where the story, full of different characters with contrasting interests, felt very alive. It is the same with the Fate/Strange Fake anime, with the only (but very important) difference that we're not in a newly, selfcontained narrative universe. We're in the Nasuverse and you can bet Narita is gonna include A LOT of stuff from the other series. Even non-Fate. Tsukihime lore is included! I won't say I did not enjoy it, because I had fun: the story is very interesting, the fights are hype, some Servants are conceptually really cool and I'm intrigued by the various mysteries. I'm definitely watching the next season when it comes out! But I'd suggest watching it after Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Zero and reading Tsukihime of course (and I plan to do so as soon as my videogame backlog allows me).
but is anyone of them at Satoru Gojo's level? ๐ถ
I wouldn't consider myself a JJK fan. I enjoyed watching the first two seasons, but I don't think I've ever been all that attached to its world and its characters, not even during the so beloved Gojo flashback or Shibuya Arc. So, what changed with Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3? I'm not sure myself, actually. The Culling game should have been where the story started getting worse, but it was the opposite for me. I actually really enjoyed this new spin. It wasn't all that confusing and I enjoyed the new characters. Higuruma especially: defense attorney tired of the justice system is honestly a great trope. And I've read he's also voiced by Sugita! I personally watched it in italian dub1, but I'd be honestly curious to rewatch his episodes in original dub just for that. Also the Maki episode and the season finale were great. Really looking forward to the continuation.
Maomao would beat Satoru Gojo ๐ถ
Last week of April I also watched the first season of another very popular anime of the last couple of years: Apothecary Diaries. I watched it with my bf and he's not usually someone who watches this kind of shows, yet we binged the first 26 episodes in just 3 days. Its biggest selling point is definitely the protagonist, Maomao, a young apothecary raised in the red light district, who suddenly ends up working in the inner court of the imperial palace. I've read some critiques of the anime calling it a power fantasy catered to women. And it's not technically wrong2, Maomao is smart, pretty and good at far too many things, but she's also very entertaining. She's a gremlin. She knows what she can do and acts accordingly to get what she wants. Unfortunately, my bf and I have a lot to watch in the small time we can spend together, so season 2 is scheduled for this summer. But I can't wait!
On a Mario Galaxy far far away ๐ถ
Let's wrap up animation talk, with the only movie I ended up watching in April (you might have noticed, I don't watch many movies). I don't have much to say about the Super Mario Galaxy movie, actually. I think the first movie was fun, this one is fun as well, but as someone who doesn't play many Mario games (except the occasional Mario Kart race with friends) I'm not super attached to this characters and worlds, so I'm probably not the best person to review it. Animation is very good and the action scenes are also cool. That's it. I also had kind of a bad experience at the cinema, where about 15 and 8 minutes before the ending, we had an entire minute of black screen, while the movie went on. Not the best, honestly...
Digivolution song intensifies ๐ถ
I have a lot of love for the Digimon franchise. I'd choose it over Pokรฉmon eyes closed and it's always been like this ever since Digimon Adventures was airing on TV. Good times. That doesn't mean I'm always perfectly fine with everything that comes out of it. Adventure 2020 was awful and I'm having a hard time watching the currently airing series Beatbreak. As for videogames, while loving the Cyber Sleuth series, World Next Order is not really for me and I never finished it (I might come back playing it eventually). But what about Digimon Survive? It's got a different formula then both the Story and the World series, a visual novel with some tactical battles. A la Utawarerumono, if you have experience with that. It came out in 2022 and I was actually really excited for that, but it came out the same day as one other very highly anticipated game for me that became one of my favourite games from the last 10 years (yes, it's Xenoblade 3), so I waited. A bit too much maybe. Back then, it was highly criticised because of how easy it was and I think i can agree with that. Utawarerumono was easy as well, though, and yet also highly praised for the story, in its niche. Maybe Survive could have been the same. Unfortunately I have my qualms with Survive's story as well, which is not bad per se, but it's very repetitive in the ways it uses some tropes to advance the story. It has interesting stuff and it's actually quite dark, but getting to the good parts felt like a slog sometimes. I completed just a single route and maybe I'll get to the others at a later time. But now I need to detox a bit from this game.
Talking about going into neo dimensions... ๐ถ
If you were afraid I was missing on challenging games in April, fear not: Fantasian: Neo Dimension got me covered! This is the latest game from Mistwalker, Final Fantasy creator's Hironobu Sakaguchi's own studio. After coming out in 2021 only on Apple Arcade, it was later re-released for all modern consoles in a partnership with Square Enix. Who would have thought.
I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Sakaguchi's games after he left Square. Those I had played at least. I don't really like The Last Story and I was a bit let down by Lost Odyssey after hearing everywhere of its status as unrecognised masterpiece. I'm happy to say that Fantasian is my favourite of the bunch.
The game is divided in two parts: the first one is pretty linear, the second is more "quest driven". If you played Final Fantasy VI, it's very reminiscent of that. The story itself feels pretty classic JRPG, but I really like the cast and the worldbuilding is fascinating, especially the stuff you learn in the second part. It is quite challenging, with very long boss fights during the aformentioned second part (maybe a bit too long for my taste). It has a very deep customization system and Sakaguchi wants you to engage with it! The music is very reminiscent of older Uematsu's works, but with a more experimental spin. Also the prerendered background were real life diorama, which is pretty cool! Overall an experience I'd recommend to those who enjoy a good, old school JRPG with a bit of challenge.
Taking a breather to cry a little ๐ถ
After I put Fantasian down, I wanted to play something a bit more short and chill to beat in a single evening. Enter When the Past Was Around, a point-and-click adventure game by Mojiken Studio (maybe more famous for A Space for the Unbound, which I still haven't played). The story talks about love and, as you might anticipate by the title, loss in a very poetic way. The main characters are a girl and a man with the face of an owl and it's not clear to me if she sees him as an owl or if he's like that for real. It's actually not that important of an issue, I was just curious. The puzzles are not that complicated, but slightly more then other games from the same genre. Overall, I enjoyed it.
Last but not least: existential crisis ๐ถ
Thank god, I already talked about The Talos Principle as well here. Long story short, it's good and it's probably gonna give you an existential crisis. Recommended. Looking forward to The Talos Principle 2.
What else?
April is my birthday's month! I got some nice gifts from friends and bf: the Drakengard 3 soundtrack (I've written about this as well), the entire collection of Asimov's Foundation books, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza (even though I still haven't played Infinite Wealth) and the murder mystery visual novel SHINRAI (stay tuned for May's post!).
That's it, thanks for reading 'till the end! Let's see if May turns out to be as full of things to talk about as this month. Bye!
and the italian dub has an awesome and unexpected callback to and iconic italian '90s song↩
I feel, however, that that specific critique was written by someone who felt like women having any kind of fun was a mistake↩