Tamon’s B-Side Ep. 7: Great expectations

Being the number one card-carrying member of the Church of Tamon, Utage wholeheartedly believes that her oshi belongs to everyone. One of their precepts is that Tamon should never, ever direct his love and affection to one person and one person alone. As a result, she now wants to be professional and maintain boundaries between her and her oshi. Sure, sure. But a teeny, tiny part of her still desires Tamon for herself, and this is enough to trigger a crash-out. I’m torn too. I’m torn between “Girl, it’s just a popstar” and “This guy is weird and manipulative, so you should stay away from him.” In the end, however, it’s too late for Utage to back out. Well, no, she can always back out. But that would require her to switch off her fandom.

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Everything Else: Winter 2026, Week 6

My face after watching these shows.

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Journal with Witch Ep. 6: Reigniting old flames

Makio has finally finished clearing out her late sister’s apartment. She thinks it’s a little strange that she doesn’t feel sadder about the whole affair. Outside of society’s expectations, I don’t think it’s that weird. They weren’t close anymore, and they haven’t been close for years. Easily over a decade, actually. And it’s perhaps for that same reason that the woman can’t quite bring herself to read her late sister’s journal. Honestly, I don’t know why she would. They’re practically strangers at this point, so it feels like a violation of their privacy, dead or not. And from the first few words alone, you can tell that the journal was meant for Asa.

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You and I Are Polar Opposites Ep. 5: The coupling begins

We finally get a proper introduction to Nishi, and she’s personally pretty relatable. It’s not that you ever want to eavesdrop on the conversations around you, but we have ears. Even when you try to distract yourself, you can’t hear but hear things with those same ears. Luckily, her chatty classmates don’t seem to mind. They even try to loop her in, but she just can’t keep up with their tempo. In any other show, there would probably be a side plot where Nishi gets bullied by the popular kids, thereby forcing one of Suzuki’s friends to step in and save her, blah blah blah… then bam, romance. I’m just glad this isn’t that type of show. I’m not trying to deny that bullying exists, but from a storytelling perspective, I’m just so tired of it.

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