Media diet, May

[superborb]

Here's what I've been consuming that either I didn't have enough thoughts for a full review on or haven't finished.

 

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (book): Post-WWI British murder mysteries that I'm sure most are familiar with. I enjoyed this light and easy read on a day I didn't feel super well! Maisie is competent, and though the subject matter is grim (aftermath of WWI), it kind of follows the conventions of period British murder mystery that is well-worn enough to me to be soothing. A good low brain day read IMO.

 

Beastars (anime), ep 1: On Jeannette Ng's rec over on twitter, anthropomorphic animals in a world with a divide between carnivores and herbivores; an alpaca gets murdered in their boarding school and sets off distrust between the students. I enjoyed this well enough, but I was trying to find a show for me and my bf to watch, and he... did not like this at all. The inaccuracy of the animals (herbivores being small, and some actual herbivores among the carnivores) bugged him and the school setting wasn't his thing. May pick up the rest if I get bored? There was definitely potential in the main couple.

 

Warrior (TV show), ep 1: hiddenramen recced this, a show set during the Tong Wars between rival Chinese gangs in 1870s San Francisco. It was interesting, and had some great fight choreography. However, US TV shows do this thing where the scenes are lit SO POORLY and I got a bit of a headache from squinting at the screen trying to decipher what was happening. For that, I don't think I can press on, no matter how good it might be. 

 

Imperial Coroner (cdrama), eps 1-12: Tang dynasty crime solving with a great core cast. I'll definitely be finishing this and doing a full review, so won't write more now -- have been livetweeting over on twitter, here is the top of the thread. Have not yet broken the thread, incredible. 

 

Chef Wang 美食作家王刚 (youtube channel): Cooking channel with a focus on professional dishes and hometown rural favorites. All the videos seem to have very good English subs! This is good because he has a pretty strong accent, and slips into dialect with his family. Not all the videos are designed to be followed by the viewer, so they don't have recipes, but some do, and the focus on technique is nice. Especially liked the series on lianggao, one video where he goes around with an old master is here. 

 

Also read a handful of short stories, but was very bad about keeping track of them. I'll save up the ones I liked (and bookmarked) for a dedicated post I think. 

Comments

[dolorosa_12]

Oh, I love Warrior! I don't think I've seen anyone else online discussing it. Totally fair point about the lighting, though and I can understand why you've decided to drop it for that reason.

[superborb]

I can totally see why people like it!! It's interesting enough that I'd watch it despite not being my normal niche, but the lighting is difficult (and doesn't sound like it gets better over the course of the series...)