January Wrap-Up
what I read and watched last month
This is my Monthly Wrap-Up series, where I share quick reviews for the things I read and watched during the previous month. If you are a new reader (welcome!), here’s the December post:
This month I was looking to read more Latin American authors, specifically in the fantasy genre. Besides that, I finally got around to reading and watching some Shonen titles that I had been putting off for a long time and I was really glad I did that because they were just as good as everyone said. Let’s begin!
What I Read.
Eles Eram Muitos Cavalos by Luiz Ruffato
A collection of 68 short stories/fragments of people living in São Paulo, all during the same day.
As far as I know this hasn’t been translated yet, neither to English nor Spanish, and I don’t recommend reading this unless you are fluent in Portuguese, specifically Brazilian Portuguese, because the language can be very hard to parse, there’s a lot of slang and weird linguistic flourishes. This is an experimental book about the hardships of the lower class in São Paulo, snapshots of every day life that show the myriad of little tragedies, losses, and miserable moments of the people that toil and suffer in the shadows of the city, ignored by everyone, mundane in their shared struggle, and yet meaningful. The title is a reference to a poem about heroes whose names are forgotten, which ties into the main theme that connects all the stories: that of people being lost in the masses of this city, anonymous and seemingly unimportant. There’s beauty and tenderness in this book, it’s a genuine and intimate look into real lives that many can relate to, without judgement or mockery, granting dignity to the wretched. It wasn’t easy to read, both because of its subject matter and the weird style, and there were many parts where the book lost me due to its obscurity. I think the stories could be better connected to create a more seamless transition from one to the next, the flow of the book constantly stops and starts, and some of the more experimental moments fell flat for me. I think it’s an important book, but not one that challenged me beyond the weird style. 3.5/5
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A historical/urban fantasy novel set in Mexico in the 1920s, following Casiopea, a young girl rejected by her family due to her Indigenous father. She endures mistreatment and injustice under her grandfather’s roof, until one day she opens a chest in his room that brings to life a being from the myths that she’s read so much about, a Mayan god that demands her help to regain his throne.
This was my 3rd Moreno-Garcia book and my first disappointment from her. The initial premise was very interesting and had a lot of potential, it is essentially American Gods but in Mexico, and I think that the story shines when we focus on the worldbuilding and the mythology, but the romance between the main characters really holds back the book. Stories about immortal beings falling in love with young mortal women just don’t do it for me, and their feelings for each other progressed too fast for me to be able to tell what exactly made them fall in love. Individually, Casiopea and Vun-Kame are very compelling characters, and I liked the parallels between Casiopea and her cousin and the two god brothers. There’s a running them of myths and the cyclical nature of stories, which in the end gets subverted when Vun-Kame decides to break the cycle of hatred, changing the narrative to one of forgiveness and compassion. I saw it coming, but it was still a nice resolution. All in all, this isn’t a bad book by any means, but it’s just kind of mid. I can forgive some of my grievances because this was one of Moreno-Garcia’s earlier works, and the two that I read prior to this were more recent, which shows that she has improved a lot since this one. 2.5/5
Los Dias del Venado (The Days of the Deer) by Lilian Bodoc
The first entry in Bodoc’s Borderlands series, the story follows Dulkancelin, a humble warrior from the huisihuilke people, who gets summoned to a great council as a representative for his tribe. The council has been reunited to determine the path that the tribes of the Borderlands are going to take now that visitors from a faraway land come to the continent, their motives unknown. Dulkancelin worries that the visitors will bring war and destruction to their shores, but the council is divided, and darkness looms over the land.
I’ve been looking to read more Latin American fantasy that isn’t magical realism, and what better place to start than a series that was praised by Le Guin herself?
My favorite aspect of this book is the setting. The author takes inspiration from real indigenous nations of South America, and they are treated with respect and given a lot of depth. It’s not a surface level aesthetic, and I always love fantasy worlds that aren’t based on Europe. In that sense, this series shares a lot of similarities with Earthsea. The focus on communal efforts and the relationship between people and nature are very different from the more individualist Western narratives, and it gives way to new conflicts and character types.
Dulkancelin is a very compelling character. He has a somewhat typical hero arc that starts with a call to adventure, but his position as the patriarch of his family and a seasoned warrior brings an interesting twist to the hero archetype. He’s not motivated by any personal ambition but only his sense of duty to his people. The evolution of his friendship with Cucub was also sweet, and I like the cultural clash between the more humble huisihuilkes and the ornate zitzahays.
The story so far isn’t exactly complex, but I’m curious to see how the series progresses and the author handles the conflict between colonizers and natives. 4/5
Kagurabachi by Takeru Hokazono
Chihiro’s father, Kunishige Rokuhira, is a renowned blacksmith who created a set of powerful swords that years ago were responsible for ending wars. Father and son live together peacefully, until the day that their solitary household gets attacked and Kunishige dies protecting Chihiro. The blades he forged are taken away, except for his final masterpiece, which Chihiro is going to use to carry out justice against his father’s murderers and retrieve the stolen swords.
Peak. I know I sound like I have shōnen brainrot, but that’s the best way to describe how I feel about this series so far. The worldbuilding is fascinating and mysterious, every bit of lore we get makes the setting more unique. I love that this is a world where magic has been revealed to the populace after being kept secret, it feels like a middle ground between JJK and Chainsaw Man. The magic system is really fun and all the powers we have seen so far are amazing, in particular the Sacred Swords, and the fights are dynamic and well choreographed, I can’t wait to see them animated.
This series is gritty and somber, but it balances it out with just the right amount of warmth. Chihiro is unlike most shōnen protagonists, closer to the Kurapika/Sasuke archetype, but he has that kindness and determination that all good protagonists have. The focus on parent/child relationships is very compelling, and I like how Chihiro keeps being confronted with different kinds of parents and how it makes him reflect on his own father and his legacy. There’s so much more to explore regarding Kunishige and his role in the atrocities committed during the war, I’m so excited to get more information on the Sword Bearers and see Chihiro grapple with the truth, whatever it ends up being.
Another point I want to highlight is the art, because it’s genuinely great and the author is so creative when it comes to paneling and how they use negative space. The character design is also on point.
The only complaint I have is that the pacing is too fast, the story could slow down a bit in between arcs so we can really digest what’s happening and get to know the characters. Still, this series has blown me away, and I hope it keeps up this level of quality. 4.5/5
What I Watched.
Nosferatu (2024) dir. by Robert Eggers.
A retelling of the classic silent movie by the same name, Nosferatu is based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and it follows Ellie and Thomas, a young newly married couple that gets entangled with a sinister figure that is obsessed with Ellie and will stop at nothing to get his hands on her.
I didn’t care for this movie. This is a little on me because I wasn’t familiar with the original, and therefore I wasn’t aware that Nosferatu is just an adaptation of Dracula, which I also don’t like that much. Since I’ve read Dracula, the movie was mostly just a check-list for me, I knew what was going to happen at all times. It is a very faithful adaptation, which extends to the xenophobic undertones of the original novel. At the end of the day, Dracula is a story about the dangers of the Other, in specific the eastern foreigner as the Other that needs to be vanquished by the enlightened Victorian society, and Nosferatu does very little to subvert or challenge this original messaging. The movie is more preoccupied with the theme of female sexuality, which in the original is treated as something shameful that must be repressed. Nosferatu changes some aspects of the novel in regard to the female characters—the main girl is closer to a Lucy type (which is subtextually slut-shamed in the original), while the secondary girl is more of a Mina (the perfect wife figure). However, I think the “feminist” message of the movie is neither revolutionary nor very well conveyed. The movie tries to eroticize the relationship between Ellie and Nosferatu and also say something about sexual abuse and how society treats imperfect victims, which makes the ending confusing from a thematic perspective. I think there are good ideas here, I saw someone pointing out that Ellie’s orgasms during her encounters with Nosferatu are a way to represent victims of assault that are deemed as lesser because they orgasmed (a real defense used in rape trials is that the victim enjoyed it, therefore it wasn’t rape). However, I don’t think this is made clear by the narrative, and I also didn’t like the message of “female divinity” that the movie is going for. There’s nothing less empowering, in my opinion, than the idea that women have an innate connection to magic, an idea that mystifies womanhood and relates female sexuality with vague supernatural forces.
Despite all my criticisms, the movie is at least very nice to look at, the cinematography is great, and the performances elevate an otherwise dull movie. Lily-Rose Depp deserves all the praise she’s getting for her role in this. 2/5
Haikyuu!!
When he was a child, Hinata Shoyo watched as a small giant flew on the volleyball court, and since that day he’s been in love with the sport. He’s determined to make a name for himself even if people think he’s too short to play volleyball: a tall wall looms above him, but if he has a team backing him up, he can see the view from the top.
Another Peak Shōnen, I was on a roll this month. How do I even begin to describe how much this show means to me? I’m going to write a longer review for this once I watch the movie and finish the manga, so I’m going to keep it brief for now. Haikyuu is a wonderful story about an underdog reaching for the sky, finding teammates that can help him achieve his dreams, and showing how hard and rewarding playing a sport can be. The show emphasizes the importance of people and the transformative power of friendship, how finding someone that truly understands you can push you to become a better version of yourself. I love how the show doesn’t vilify any of the teams, instead we get to know all these kids, and we empathize with everyone that the main characters meet in the court. It makes every match feel meaningful because we care about everyone playing. The beautiful animation and music brings everything together to deliver scenes that rival the most epic battles in anime. Finally, I love the healthy masculinity that the show promotes and how it proves that even if the show focuses entirely on male characters and male friendships, it doesn’t mean that the female characters have to be objectified or ignored by the narrative. Haikyuu is a breath of fresh air all around, and I love it so much. 5/5
Ascendance of a Bookworm (season 1)
Urano is about to become a librarian like she always wanted, when she suddenly dies, crushed under a pile of books. With her dying breath, she wishes that in her next life she can be surrounded by books. Then, she finds herself in the body of a little girl, in a world completely unlike her own, and where books are nowhere in sight. Now Urano has to adjust to life as Myne, a little girl with a strange illness whose family is not rich enough to acquire books, and if she can’t get books, she’s determined to make her own.
I have said before that I’m not a big fan of isekai anime, however, there are a few stand-outs, and this was one. What really sets it apart for me is how detailed and thought out the worldbuilding is, and the attention to detail regarding the pseudo-medieval setting. It’s not just our world with a fantasy filter on, and I like how the show focuses on the realistic hardships of someone from our time trying to adjust to an earlier technological stage. The little bits in episode one about how there are no bathrooms and only adult women can put their hair up are just throwaway lines, yet they set the tone for the rest of the show. It’s an isekai fantasy world, but there’s a surprising amount of realism.
Myne is also a great protagonist, I generally dislike the premise of an older person being reincarnated in a child’s body, but they handle it very well here. It’s both an advantage for her and a source of conflict whenever she behaves like an adult. The pacing is a little slow at the beginning, but it’s appropriate as we need that time to set our expectations about how Myne can achieve her goals with the limited resources available to her in this world, and she needs to learn about the place she is in and acclimate to her new life. There are also clear progression markers, and you can see how she advances at a natural speed once she gets used to her circumstances. The other characters also make the world feel lived in, and I like the family dynamics as well as the relationship Myne has with the surrounding adults. It’s a cute, wholesome show with just the right amount of drama at key moments, and very educative. 4.5/5 I’m excited to continue watching.
Substack Highlights:
Guía definitiva para empezar a leer literatura sin morir en el intento by Slash
Catch ‘Em All Without Breaking the Bank: A Guide to Pokémon Card Collecting in 2025 by Lamar Ramos
100 Most Influential Fantasy Titles of All Time by Clifford Stumme
I also enjoyed seeing everyone’s “end of the year” posts, specially Shane Elliott’s series over at Feats and Faults.
This was a rough month for me, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and I still had a lot of fun. Haikyuu specially came at the perfect time in my life, it saved me from a depressive spiral, and it really carried me through this seemingly endless January. Maybe I’m biased because I love Shōnen, but there’s something magical about seeing a group of teenagers use the power of friendship to achieve their dreams.
Next month I’m going to continue reading more Latin American authors, and I’ll finally start Wind and Truth (tho it will likely take me more than a month to finish that juggernaut).
If you have read or watched any of the things on this list, let me know what you thought about them in the comments! Also, I’m running a survey to get to know my audience more, so I would appreciate it if you could answer some quick questions. Thanks!
Upcoming:
This is going to be a busy month for me so I won’t be able to post as much. I may squeeze in something else but for now this is the schedule for February.
February 9: Why You Should Read Realm of the Elderlings—just me yapping about my favorite fantasy series of all time and hopefully convincing you to read it.
February 16: 10 Female-led Anime I love — a list of shows that center girls and women, because anime has a bad reputation when it comes to the way women are treated and I want to give a shout out to shows that I think do a great job with their female characters.
February 23: Full review of Haikyuu!!—I have so much to say about this series, this is going to be half a review and half an essay about the healthy masculinity of Haikyuu and how the series treats the female characters.
Due to lack of participation, I’m going to stop the Anime Club. I would like to try it out again in the future, but for now I won’t focus on that, which is why it’s not on the schedule anymore. The chat is open if anyone wants to talk about anime tho.
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Haikyuu! is such a great series and so fun to watch, I absolutely love it!
'Stories about immortal beings falling in love with young mortal women just don’t do it for me.'
Hard agree. Hate this trope with the passion of a thousand suns. I mean to complain about it in Dragon Age at great length one of these days. Shadow and Bone actually did it sort of okay (because the immortal being is based on the author's horrible ex, and it's very clear about the fact that he's evil and full of ulterior motives).
Also, looking forward to reading your Elderlings post!