Ninth's State of the World: 2/9/19

 Quick update post, since I haven't been as active on here:

I'm currently dealing with some chronic health issues, accompanied by the fun of getting a diagnosis when you're woman-shaped and in your 20's.

While all the main fandoms I've mentioned in my bio still apply, here's some of the stuff I'm paying particular attention to at the moment:

KH III (I've been spoiled through the ending, but I haven't seen most of it myself--I made a deal with hawk-in-a-tree  that she could spoil me as long as the spoilers came more-or-less in order)

The Dragon Prince: Eagerly awaiting S2; might not watch it the day it comes out though.

BnHA: I'm a manga reader, so I'm both excited about certain future class roster changes and baffled by the latest OFA plot twist

The Case Study of Vanitas: I've just finished Ch. 34 and I want to scream. I both love and hate Mochizuki Jun. Also I want to grab Vanitas by his collar and demand all of his secrets.

Dr. Stone: I'm reading this exclusively on the SJ website, so I'm a chapter behind Japan, but I love it lots.  Senkuu is the best ace mad scientist.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Not caught up to the anime, but goodness I love the concept and the execution. I'm not normally into isekai but I will accept the story of an OP nonbinary slime accidentally using his middle management experience to become a city planner. I've also been reading the manga.

She-Ra: I still need to finish the series but I'm in love with the art and the general approach to storytelling.

Steven Universe: I'm so far behind; I think I'm on S2? NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT THE DIAMONDS OK TUMBLR HAS SPOILED ENOUGH

Seraph of the End: Again, I'm very behind....I think I'm around Ch. 51? I want to continue but I'm also terrified given what's already happened.

Today's Menu for the Emiya Family: it's a canon Fate Series fixit-fic; enough said

 

The nice thing is that, compared to the past, I'm watching and reading a surprising amount of this legally. I've just gotten a bunch of manga through a Kodansha Humble Bundle, which I think is still available right now, and that's how I'm reading the Slime manga. I've been able to sign up for a Shounen Jump subscription, which i use to read Dr. Stone and Seraph of the End (and to check official BnHA translations after they're made available). The Case Study of Vanitas is around $1.99 an issue on Comixology, and the issues release on the same day as Japan (PLS SJ LEARN FROM YEN PRESS). I watch That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and Today's Menu for the Emiya Family on Crunchyroll a week after release so I don't have to pay (neither is that suspenseful, so I don't mind waiting). When the next season of BnHA is out, and when Funimation grabs the new Fruits Basket anime, I'll do the same with Funimation. I do currently pay for Netflix, but I don't have cable, so it's not that bad, in terms of cost. That covers the bulk of the things I'm watching and reading at the moment, which is pretty cool.

I'm talking about all of this because I'm just marveling at how much easier it is to pay for a lot of this stuff than it was even a few years ago. Anime piracy is probably always gonna exist, but changes like the SJ subscription or same-day chapter releases make it much less attractive to indulge in, especially for the older generation of fans who work at jobs that allow them to have a limited but steady amount of disposable income. There's still stuff the industry needs to work on--unless someone gives me a method of accessing Detective Conan that doesn't involve paying more than $100 for volumes/DVD sets stuffed with filler cases, I'm really not interested--but things have gotten notably better over just the decade I've been online as a fan (I opened my FFN account in 2009).

In short, it's fun to watch the industry adapt, and I'm interested to see how it continues to adapt in the future.