Things I enjoyed in January 2026
One thing I missed about blogging, was to talk endlessly about the stuff I like. I've started a physical media diary at the start of this year. And that's fine, but that's mostly personal considerations. Sometimes a 33yo girl just wants to share.
This will be a monthly appointment on this blog. Tentatively.
I know we're already in March, but I like it when I have my year well wrapped up. So let's start with the first month of the year, January 2026.
Plus Ultra
January for me is usually the month of novelty. I tried to finish all the stuff I started in 2025 before the end of the year, to be ready to start new stuff right the first day of the year.
This year I had a few leftovers. Mostly anime. And I haven't finished watching some of them even right now in March, but I guess we'll talk about that eventually. One thing I actually managed to watch was the long discussed ending for My Hero Academia. I'm not a MHA manga reader, so this was the first time experiencing the ending and, in all honesty, it wasn't that bad?? I think the only real criticism I can give is that, with a cast that big, it would have been nice to have some focus on characters other than Midoriya. I think the last part of the story, the final battle in particular, was quite enjoyable.
Shining fingeeeerrrr
The other anime I finished watching in January is another shonen. Not a modern one, tho.
If you already know me, you might know that I'm a big Gundam fan. I don't think I have seen more than a quarter of all Gundam available, but that's ok, more stuff to look forward I guess! Thing is, people don't usually think Gundam could be shonen: that's because they haven't seen G Gundam!
A shounen from the '90s isn't something I usually gravitate towards, but it worked for me, mostly thanks to the silly yet emotional tone. I like silly, I think I enjoyed Yu Yu Hakusho for the same reason a few years ago. It has a lot of funny looking mechs: the Nether Gundam is particular infamous, but honestly I find quite amusing Nobel Gundam (friendly dubbed Sailor Gundam by me and my friend Cre who watched the show with me), Cobra Gundam and, most of all, Master Gundam (with it's little surprise) as well.
I really like Domon and Rain, both the characters and their relationship, probably one of my favorite romances in the franchise so far. That iconic scene with them in the last episode was absolutely perfect.
As always the cast in Gundam series is a mixed bag. I love some of them, especially Chibodee and his entourage, Schwarz Bruder and his totally german katana moves. Also Master Asia the GOAT.
a moment to praise our lord and saviour chaos
Another leftover from 2025 (that I could totally fit into the end of the year if I had that as a priority as it's pretty short) is the manga adaptation for Xenosaga Ep.1.
Again, if you know me, you probably also know how much I love Xenosaga. The third main game of the series is one of my favorite games of all time, if not my absolute favorite. You see, something specific happened in 2023 related to a radio that reigneited my desire for a Xenosaga comeback. I'm vague, I know, if you know you know. So, until the remake or whatever Monolith will eventually (or never) give us is missing, I'm slowly tackling every side content from this series that has been translated, officially or by fan, good or bad (this will be relevant in the "Things I enjoyed in February 2026" post, stay tuned).
Back to the manga, I feel like its biggest fault is being only 3 volumes. A good third of the game towards the end is retold in about 3 chapters. This means one of the most iconic scenes from episode 1 was cut.
Ma a belle pêche..., you'll be missed.
The drawings are ok, not too good, not too bad. Jr makes funny faces.
In the end I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't suggest to read this instead of playing the game. Personally, I might get it if I ever find a cheap japanese copy of those volumes though.
Memory through music
The last leftover is only a leftover because my dumb brain decided it was a good idea to start playing it on December 30th.
You see, I don't really consider myself a rhythm game fan. I enjoy playing them, but they don't catch my interest unless I already know the songs. And, over the years, I've listened the songs included in Theatrhythm Final Bar Line a whole lot. I'm a Final Fantasy fan who has played most of the mainline games (only XI missing) and a good chunk of spin offs after all....
I honestly had so much fun! It was almost addicting. I had to refrain myself multiple times from playing all night, repeating all the missions I couldn't beat. Absolutely recommended of you like FF soundtracks. Or if you have truble staying awake, idk.
a message to the world
Okay, done with leftovers! Let's start with some 2026 fresh stuff with a game that actually came out late 2025.
Z.A.T.O. // I love the world and everything in it is a russian visual novel. A strange one, very personal and fascinating. It made me uncomfortable, in the right way. It vaguely reminded me Milk inside a bag of milk, but it's probably the setting. I also really like the character art.
It's hard to say WHY I liked the story without entering spoiler territory, but, if you want to try it, it's free on Steam and you can read it in about 6 hours (maybe less if you read faster then me). I think it's worth a try!
psyche is such an odd place...
I have a huge videogame backlog. Who doesn't? Every year I promise myself I will play games added to my Steam library ages ago that I never touched. This year I decided to start with Psychonauts.
I don't think there's an adjective more fitting than "charming" to describe this game. It oozes 2005 energy. I love how each level is so different and creative: I particularly like the milkman and Lungfishpolis ones.
I'm not a big platform fan, but I'm quite curious to play the sequel eventually!
walking dead men
Last but not least, a movie! Movies and non animated shows is something I end up watching almost exclusively with my boyfriend. We enjoy the Knives Out movies quite a lot, so Wake Up Dead Man was a no brainer the moment we ended up trying to decide what to watch together.
I really liked it! Not sure if I liked it more than the first movie or not, but definitely more than the second. I enjoyed the focus on a character that wasn't Benoit Blanc this time. And I loved how they mentioned some crime stories that I immediately put in my TBR (except Roger Ackroyd, as I read it just last year)!
Anyway, very good movie trilogy, recommended!
what else?
I also started stuff, but I should probably talk about them in the following posts in this series, as this has become a long one.
One thing I want to say, as a personal achievement, is that in January I FINALLY started reading books consistently again, and that makes me super happy. You don't see books in this post as back then I was in the middle of a book on the longer side that I finished in February. But stay tuned, there will hopefully be a few books from now on!
And that's it from me, Laxy out!