Obsession(s) of the Month

I've decided to start this little monthly segment, since I go through periods of obsession with different things basically every month or so. It will just be a lot of random thoughts on the things that I'm into recently! Since this is my first one, I might add in things from the beginning of the year, too. Why not? It's my blog!I think I'll break each post down into categories like music, videos (including TV, YouTube, and movies), games, books, and other.

As an INFP, the things I like are hardly ever the same. I go through different moods during the day and month and year and new music, Netflix shows, books, etc. are always finding me and making me obsessed with them. Also, I'm the type of person who doesn't LIKE something... I get obsessed with it. I either love or hate something and there is rarely and in-between.

Let's get started!

Music

This year I have discovered and rediscovered a lot of amazing music. I have been keeping up with pop music from the US, which I used to ignore. Recently, I'm obsessed with Havana by Camila Cabello and Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Levato.

I also got back into Highlight (formerly BEAST/B2ST) and I went to their recent fan meeting in Seoul and loved it. I listened to a lot of their new and old music to prepare myself for the concert, but I haven't stopped listening to it. I mostly like Pls Don't Be Sad, Kimi wa Dou (one of their Japanese songs) Celebrate, Can You Feel It, and more!

Also, I love the Hanson song I Was Born, and it has been cheering me up a lot lately whenever I feel overwhelmed or stuck. I have always loved Hanson and I love that they still put out amazing music. I was also late to the Hamilton game because I didn't think I'd like it, but I recently listened to the entire Original Cast Soundtrack and loved it. It makes me want to read the book it was based off of, too. When I was in Japan, I saw In the Heights, which is a musical also written by Lin Manuel Miranda. At the time, I didn't know who he was and I saw the musical in Japanese (because two of my favorite actor/singers were in it) so I didn't understand his lyrical talent that well.

Dear Evan Hansen is also a broadway show I recently listened to. It's a heartbreakingly honest look at the relationships we have and what happens when things go wrong. I absolutely love Ben Platt's voice and I find myself listening to some of the songs on my way home every day. (Also this and this are both amazing and I listen to them nonstop)

Also, the Persona 5 soundtrack is mindblowingly good. I always love Persona soundtracks because Shoji Meguro is a musical genius. The songs he writes for Persona games always fully immerse you and encapsulate the atmosphere, themes, and overall awesome feelings Persona evokes. I wholeheartedly think the P5 soundtrack is the best one (compared to 3 and 4) maybe because I loved P5 more.

Games

Since I was already talking about Persona 5, let's segue into that! I finished it in a month and it took me 103 hours to complete. I bought it the day before I went on a trip to Seoul, so the entire time I was away, my hands were itching to play it. I have always loved Persona games but I played about 90 hours on P3 and 60 on P4 and couldn't complete either of them. I went in blind and by the time I realized I needed to manage my time well, raise my stats, complete all the social links, and fuse personas, it was too late.

Persona 5 has a super easy mode which allows you to retry a battle and gives you more exp and money after defeating enemies. I chose this mode so I could enjoy the story and beat the game. I never died in battle, which was phenomenal for me as someone who rage quit over past Persona games many times. I used to die so often that hours upon hours of my progress was lost and I'd just give up. But I was able to beat P5 and it was a great feeling.

One thing I absolutely loved about P5 is the fact that I could play in English but I was able to download the Japanese voices for it. It was so helpful for me to not have to struggle reading menus and persona weaknesses in Japanese like I had for previous games, but it was still nice that I could hear all the dialogue in Japanese. My favorite voice actor of all time, Miyano Mamoru, played Ryuji and did a fantastic job. But if I ever didn't know a word they used, I was able to read everything in English, so it was like having subtitles!

As someone who has lived in Japan, I loved the story of P5. It did a great job of depicting real issues in Japan and how people feel powerless to do anything about them. I loved the characters, the music, the atmosphere, the art style, the new battle upgrades (negotiations), and the fact that the animal this time was a CAT and not some stupid fat teddy bear (looking at you P4).

Besides Persona 5, I played Assassin's Creed Origins and also beat it in about a month. I loved it. I have been a huge AC fan since I was a freshman in college but I only ever beat AC II and maybe AC Brotherhood. I hated AC III and Black Flag. I thought they were way too hard and tedious.

AC Origins completely revolutionized the entire series. It was more of an RPG, and the player is allowed to do whatever they want essentially. I played my way around the map according to my level and I never left an area without completing everything within it. However, I watched my husband play and he just runs around the map not really worrying about levels or strategy. I was a stealthy assassin who rarely died, but my husband thinks it's funny to just run around getting killed. To each his own, and that's what AC Origins allows you to do.

I also played Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter on PS4 and thought it was pretty good. I loved being able to deduce things and I liked finding clues and whatnot. However, the game seemed clunky, like an old PC Harry Potter game at times. The graphics were okay but off in a lot of ways, and the story at times didn't make any sense. However, it was still a fun game and I enjoyed it.

Recently, I bought Stardew Valley and I love how it feels like a cross between Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. I can spend hours playing it and it feels like minutes have passed. It's dangerous to play on weekdays, so I'm trying to relegate it to weekends only.

Videos

I know I'm super late to this as well, but I recently watched all of the BBC production of Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch. I used to think he looked weird and I was never a huge fan of mysteries or Sherlock Holmes, but boy, did this show turn that around for me. I LOVED the show. I watched the entire thing in about a week and a half. I loved how long each episode was, but also how short each season was. They really felt planned and each episode was a complete story in and of itself.I am now in love with Benedict and Martin Freeman, who I had only really ever seen in The Hobbit before. I just want to squish their faces and have tea with them at 221b Baker Street. I'll definitely have to visit some filming locations when I'm in London.I also finished the second season of Netflix's original series

The Series of Unfortunate Events. I loved the first season and this season had some of my favorite places from the books. I think my favorite book in the series was The Vile Village. I remember loving it because I thought Violet was so clever for figuring out a way out of the jail cell. However, they changed the way she got them out and it irked me a bit. But I loved Neil Patrick Harris as always.I also watched a Netflix show called Prison Girls, which I thought was really good. It was about teenage girls in the US who were incarcerated.

Queer Eye is also one of my new faves, and I'm so excited they renewed it for another season.

I also watched a lot of Japanese dramas/movies recently. All were amazing so I'll just list them out. MARS: Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru (featuring the amazing Taisuke Fujigaya from Kis-My-Ft2), Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice), Okaasan Ore wa Daijobu (featuring my ultimate fave, Masuda Takahisa from NEWS and his buddy Yamada from Hey!Say!JUMP). I hadn't kept up with Japanese music or dramas in a long time but I'm loving getting back into them recently. It helps me maintain my Japanese language ability.

I've also discovered a new YouTuber that I love - Ariel Bisset. She's a booktuber who writes and travels and she lived in London and discusses things about books that not many other booktubers talk about and I love her quirky personality. She seems a lot more real and honest than a lot of the big, famous booktubers I've come to ignore.I also saw Black Panther, which I loved, and I'm getting excited for Infinity Wars.

Also, one of my favorite movies of last year (and maybe of all time) was Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort, Jamie Foxx, and Kevin Spacey. The music and filmography were done so well, and I loved the performances by each cast member and the story was great. I've seen it 3 times already and I know I'll watch it again soon.

Podcasts

I have been on a podcast listening spree lately. I love Criminal the most. It has such engaging, real-life crime stories and each one is so different and yet so fascinating. I also love Reply All, which is a podcast all about technology and how it affects our lives. I like the episodes where people send in questions or problems and the hosts have to fix them. They get some crazy questions that turn into really great episodes.

What Should I Read Next is also great because I love Anne Bogel and her blog ModernMrsDarcy, but I don't listen that often because I'd just end up buying 3-10 books per episode because her recommendations are so good.Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness is amazing because I love him and he's so genuine and sweet and he's obsessed with things just like me. I've also been listening to Rick Steves' podcast Travel with Rick Steves and audio files on his travel app. It's making me sooo excited to go to Europe soon.

Other

Recently, Johnny's made a mobile game - a NEWS dating simulator! And as a person who is obsessed with NEWS and someone who loves Japanese dating sims, it was made for me. I love the game - it's free but they do try to make you pay for stuff. Poo on them, they already have most of my money. But Massu is my boyfriend and it's great! It's a good way for me to keep up with my Japanese reading ability and I get to take lots of screenshots of Massu.

Also, I've been really naughty buying tons of books recently. I went to Seoul and bought a lot of books at used bookstores and at Kyobo, and I keep finding books on Amazon that I want, so I have been downloading lots of samples onto my Kindle. I have so many books on my shelf already that I really need to just sit down and read something, but I find it more thrilling to go on Amazon, Goodreads, and YouTube and find a bunch of books I'm interested in.

Okay, that's probably enough for now. Can you tell that I'm easily obsessed with stuff? I can't help it - I love discovering new things and I love being excited but I usually don't know where to put all my excited energy! It was fun to write it all down here.Let me know what you're excited about/obsessed with recently!