Reading Report: 18 January 2026

SSSS.GRIDMAN

Sort of a weird week for reports because I've been away from my normal setup and lacking free time since Thursday. I knew about my upcoming obligations, of course, and I tailored my immersion based on a need to pre-write the bulk of my input. Last week I also found myself sort of altering my behaviour to satisfy a desire about my reading report. In that case it was not wanting to overdo variety so that I didn't have to write about too many things. I think noticing these behaviours is good though, because it helps me question if I'm doing it for a good reason. At the end of the day my goal is to motivate myself to immerse more (not that I need the motivation), to log the natural progress of my reading, and to serve as a writing outlet for something I care about (so not just work). I think going forward I will try to be more considerate of my input needs and less considerate of my report output needs. Basically, I may just put some input into my report as footnotes if I feel like there isn't much to comment on.

ファタモルガーナの館外伝

I stopped reading after Wednesday evening for reasons explained above, however I focused on this during my regular commutes so I got a good few hours of progress in. Morgana had a bit of a moment with Jeren that seemed negative but it actually gave her an outlet for finally confronting some of her trauma. She and Jacopo grew closer, we, briefly saw Morgana's uncursed face, Jacopo decided that he really does have feelings for Morgana despite the age gap, a few more months pass, and the brothel celebrates Morgana's birthday. This birthday comes up in the main game, so it had the dramatic benefit of that "Uh oh, when is it gonna happen?" moment. And it does happen. My game is now paused at a scene shortly after the dramatic event took place. Jacopo is feeling really down, though he's still somewhat hopeful that Morgana is okay somewhere. He wishes that he had the power, the privilege, and the resources to protect the people he loved.

走れメロス

Unlike other media, I was able to take advantage of the convenience of books and still read this steadily throughout the week. Unfortunately, despite the ability to read it while I was working away from home, my mind has also been totally on fire with early mornings and late nights, so overall it was a pretty unproductive input effort.
駈込み訴え
This story, written from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, still manages to be my favourite Dazai story. From start to end, I feel absorbed into Judas' mind. At time's he's manic, at times he's indignant, and at times he's guilty, though he's never truly repentant. My favourite parts are both right near the end when his mind is almost completely broken about his self-destructive decision: as he's finishing his plea a bird begins to sing which frustrates Judas. I like how such a simple and innocent thing frustrates him, perhaps because his guilt weighs on him so much. The other is the final few sentences where Judas completely shifts away from "guilt" and assumes the role of a sales person. He completely abandons his love for Jesus because the thought of selling his friend and mentor is too much to handle and instead pretends to feel nothing at all.
眉山
This is a story about a guy who meets Bizan Kawakami, an author who committed suicide a year before Dazai's birth. Considering the circumstances of Dazai's death, I wonder how much else the two have in common. The story involves a bunch of famous author name drops. It was sort of a funny story.

燈籠
This was a semi-short story about a person in a small family. The story involves a misunderstanding that gets the main character in trouble with the police and they get picked up from the police station by their father. I read this over the very busy weekend so the exact details didn't absorb into my mind as well as they could have... maybe I will give it a re-read at a later date.

善蔵を思う
I basically just begun this story so I don't have many thoughts. Maybe for the best considering the state of my mind after this long long weekend. It's quite a long story so I'll have more to say about it next week.

SSSS.GRIDMAN

This was a rewatch of a classic anime I enjoyed back in April 2022. It's kind of wild to think about how long ago I watched it and how well I could remember it. I suppose Gridman is not a robot anime... but I think the DNA of kyodai hero and super robot are pretty well mixed. For fans of the series I'm sure I don't need to convince you of the quality of Akane as an antagonist in the story, but I just adored watching her progress throughout the series for a second time. Gridman is pretty cool, too.

機動戦士ガンダム0083 STARDUST MEMORY

This is another rewatch. I watched this over the weekend that I was away from home, so I'll just trust myself that I did so. It's a great Gundam OVA about a somewhat naive mobile suit pilot who gets caught up in an old One Year War veteran's revenge mission against the federation. I watched 9 of the 13 episodes this week, ending with the scene where Gatou fully utilises the Gundam Prototype 2 to blow up the Federation fleet.