Time again to sum up some of the media I’ve consumed over the course of the year. I did keep track of a lot of media this year, and if there’s anything I can say about the trends for this year, it’d be “…huh.”
Yes, I felt confused about a lot of this year’s works. Sometimes, you come out of a book, movie, or comic feeling baffled. Often, you can pin it down to poor writing, pacing, or storytelling, but there were more than a few works that were technically solid and somehow emotionally unsatisfying. Hopefully I’ll be able to clarify that statement as we move on the micro-reviews!
As always, this is “the year’s review of media” rather than “a review of 2025 media,” and the list is by no means exhaustive.
Books
The Reincarnationist Papers, by D. Eric Maikranz (Barbary Press, 2008; Blackstone Publishing, 2021). The premise of this novel is an idea that we’ve all probably entertained at least once in our lives: what if reincarnation turns out to be real, and what if you had access to every memory of your past selves? Narrator Evan Michaels discovers this about himself and nearly goes insane when he realizes that no one else he knows can recall their past lives. That changes when he meets Poppy, a fellow “Reincarnationist” who leads him into a society of his peers. The premise is exciting, yet the book is considerably more introspective than the cover’s “Now a Major Motion Picture!” blurb suggests. This is due to a combination of the novel’s framing as translated text from three journals, and Evan’s admission that death is not much of a deterrent for him and his society. It doesn’t help that Evan himself is not a very interesting character. Despite being a career criminal, his recollection of his current life is noticeably dull and dry, and he spends much of the novel as an observer rather than a player. I wonder if this is a choice, as author Maikranz occasionally interrupts Evan’s narration with that of other Reincarnationists, who have much more interesting stories and a more colorful writing style. Evan himself comes into this style towards the end of the book, but there were times when I wondered how long I could put up with his matter-of-fact narration. Overall, I’m interested in seeing where the story goes in the sequel, but I’m not in too much of a rush to read it.
Dwellings, by Jay Stephens (2024, Oni Press). Described as “six twisted tales of adorable horror,” this book collects the six-issue series into a satisfyingly chunky omnibus. The entire project looks and feels like a 1950s Harvey Comics offering (right down to the toy ads and slightly misregistered process color printing) but the images go places that Richie Rich and Casper wouldn’t dare. Stephens is an exemplary comicker: the speech bubbles are just long enough, the storytelling just suggestive enough, and the action paced at just the right tempo. I don’t even usually go for the horror genre but the cartoony gore of the art is just tolerable enough for me. And it doesn’t hurt that there’s some fun and competent graphic design sprinkled throughout the book.
Alison, by Lizzy Stewart (Fantagraphics, 2022). This book left me torn. On one hand, it’s an easily readable story of an artist’s self-discovery, told with an intriguingly effective mix of prose, faux-scrapbooking, and comic art. On the other, the main character feels like she’s bounced around feeling perennially short of achieving any life-changing introspection, and the art is parked at the intersection of “My kid could do that” and “Much harder than it looks.” I was driven to find out how the book ended, but I wasn’t happy with the ending. I thought the format was unique, but the story was not. One of those titles that I find hard to fault, but can’t really recommend, either.
Halina Filipina, by Arnold Arre (Tuttle Publishing, 2022). A boy-meets-girl story, taking place in the Philippines. While titular character Halina is a visitor from New York, the story focuses more on native Cris, who is convinced that all Filipinos secretly want to leave the country. The book is strong, with attractive art and effective visual storytelling. Its bilingual text won’t leave English speakers in the cold, but I’m sure I’m missing something in the roughly 35% of the dialogue that’s in Filipino. My biggest problem with the book is the uneven writing and plotting. The romantic aspect is fine and even fun to watch, but the plot is a little too frequently fueled by coincidence, and some non-romantic character developments feel hollow due to being “told” rather than “shown.” I would still recommend giving it a read, as the pages will fly by quickly.
Girl Town, by Casey Nowak (Top Shelf Productions, 2018). It’s like not getting to finish a really good meal. Nowak sets up these really interesting stories but even though there is a climax for each there’s no denouement for nearly any of them. It’s almost as if there’s a page missing between chapters. But given the frequency of it, it’s possibly intentional? Otherwise, definitely worth a look, especially if you like open-ended stories about repressed feelings.
Sonic the Hedgehog: The IDW Collection (IDW, 2018-2025; ongoing). Honorable mention goes to this series for being as unexpectedly good as it is. IDW’s self-titled “Collection” series are omnibus versions of their licensed comics, which includes the main monthly title and its various limited-run spinoff series reordered in a way that makes narrative sense. The great part about IDW’s Sonic is that contrary to its video game source material, it’s thorough in its tight plot and worldbuilding. Characters have lives outside of “helping Sonic defeat Eggman,” and seeing entire issues dedicated to showing why X isn’t at Y solving Z really makes it feel like an actual place rather than a character playground.
Films & Television
The Residence (2025, Netflix). A fast-paced, quick-witted, and winding murder mystery series set within the high-stress world of the White House. While the standout performance is Uzo Aduba’s eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp, the rest of the characters are fleshed out so well that it really does feel like a family of co-workers struggling to keep things together. While the performances and writing keeps the show lively and moving, the visual effects also deserve mention, as scenes sometimes flow so seamlessly between camera shots and cross-section “model” views of the White House that it’s easy not to notice. My one nit to pick is that the show makes use of quickly-cut flashbacks to underscore a point; fine when you only watch one episode a week, but a little grating if you plan to binge the series.
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuux (2025, Sunrise). In this revision of the original Mobile Suit Gundam timeline, one change makes all the difference: in this world, the space colonies of Zeon won their war for independence. Mopey colony-born teenage girl Machu (real name Amate Yuzuriha) has no career prospects, but one fateful day, the Gundam GQuuuuuux crash-lands in her neighborhood. Machu’s theft of the GQuuuuuux leads to her joining an underground fighting ring, where she falls into a conflict much bigger than she could have possibly imagined.
This 12-episode series isn’t very good. The premises of the show demand familiarity with the original series and its timeline – which means that newcomers will likely be even more lost than normal, as much of the original lore was fleshed out in supplementary material rather than the show itself. Meanwhile, the main cast of Machu, Nyaan, and Shuji aren’t a very compelling trio, with the main conflict essentially being a romantic rivalry fueled by addiction. I found their story’s conclusion to be hastily resolved and unsatisfying.
The series sports some new designs for classic mobile suits by Ikuto Yamashita, who succeeds in making the original RX-78-2 look like something out of a nightmare. This effort is sadly undermined by the show’s final episodes due to the writers losing the plot. The show ends raising more questions than it answers, which just shouldn’t happen.
Superman (2025), directed by James Gunn. I was a little skeptical when I heard that Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn would be taking control of DC’s live-action movie franchise, as I really didn’t want another series of quippy Marvel MCU films. Thankfully my concerns were unfounded, as Superman quickly establishes its plot and continues to run a well-paced two hours of action entertainment. Despite being from the same director, it manages not to feel at all like Guardians of the Galaxy, though there are similar-feeling scenes here and there. Gunn also chose the right supporting characters, as the Justice Gang’s action brawler Hawkgirl, no-nonsense Mr. Terrific, and overconfident Guy Gardner provide good foils to the idealistic Superman. I’d watch it again!
Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985), directed by Steven Hahn. I’d only read about this animated film through clickbait articles that condemn the film for ripping off Star Wars and not knowing who it wants its audience to be. Does it rip off Star Wars? Sure does, to the point of reusing the same sound effects library. Is it unsure about who its audience is? A bit; it’s mostly acceptable for kids, except for the – hold on, I’m checking my notes – ah yes, the strangulation death of a lead character? The reprogramming of a gynoid by accessing her emotion circuits, which are located in her buttocks? The whore house with a three-breasted woman? People getting crushed to death, whipped with lasers, tortured with lasers, shot by lasers, and bisected by lasers? Somehow, none of these (except the strangulation) are as bad in the movie as it is on paper, but this particular brand of sanitized perversion is somehow intense for young children while being too clean for anyone older than 14. And still, it manages to be kind of a solid film, as it’s mostly internally consistent. But the plot relies too much on convenience: the romantic plot is totally out of nowhere, and the day is saved more than once by a supernatural power that probably could have prevented all this in the first place. It’s a curious piece that clearly has the budget and quality animation for a blockbuster, yet never seems to find a relatable heart.
The Colors Within (2024, directed by Naoko Yamada). A girl who can see others’ auras inadvertently starts a band with the two people whose auras she finds prettiest. There’s nothing wrong with this film; in fact, I’d say it’s an extremely competent film. The performances are fine, the original songs are pretty catchy, the animation style is light and relaxing, and the film direction respects your intelligence. My only complaint (and it’s not even a complaint) is that I’m not the right audience for it. I get the impression that it’s aimed more at the parents of teenagers rather than actual teenagers. Either way, since I’m neither of those it just feels weird watching a movie I consider “good,” but doesn’t scratch any particular itch of mine. I imagine it’s like watching Jurassic Park while lacking any interest in dinosaurs.
Fast Takes
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Would you believe that this is the only piece of Lord of the Rings media I’ve ever consumed? It’s a nice fairy tale adventure, but it slows down a lot midway before picking up again. I probably would have finished it faster if I wasn’t turned off by the middle section.
KPop Demon Hunters (2025), directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. Yes, I saw the year’s runaway hit animated film about a three pop stars who are also ruthless demon hunters. I wouldn’t call it “groundbreaking” but I enjoyed the expressive animation and the music, which is enough for me.
Healer Girl (2022, Studio 3Hz). Like KPop Demon Hunters except the trio are magical girls who use the power of singing to literally heal the sick and wounded. It’s what one might call a “cozy” series, with low stakes and a lighthearted optimism. It probably would have worked better as a musical movie like KDH, though, as most of the series is forgettable. Not great, but not terrible either. I admit to loving the theme song.
Lost Falls, by Curt Pires (Dark Horse, 2023). A multi-part comics series about some missing children, a time loop, an alternate dimension, and a Black detective faced up against some small-town white racists. It somehow did not hit any nerve with me, which is saying something considering the amount of interesting premises I just listed.
So that wraps up another year of thrills, chills, and “huhs” from me. Best wishes for 2026!
