Bad news first: Just as I was getting into writing more regularly on here, Substack has repeatedly failed to take strong measures against far-right content and its monetisation on this platform. Many wonderful writers who have been more active have already left and I do not see a reason to support such an enterprise either.
I would like to thank everyone who subscribed to The Taisho Cafe and I will update you as soon as I have found a new place to publish my writings. Which I will, sooner or later, but after the whole Twitter thing last year, right now I am just tired.
As for social media, I will be most active on Bluesky, but in general I want to focus on my translation work in the current year. Also, I would love to write for other outlets, so if you like my writing and are looking for someone to review manga or Japanese pop culture in general, please reach out to me.
As I always say, the world is a mess, but at least the manga are still fantastic. So let me get to the good part …
My Manga Favorites from 2023:
10. Chainsaw Man (Part 2) by Fujimoto Tatsuki
9. River End Café by Tanaka Akio
8. Omoide Emanon (Memories of Emanon) by Tsuruta Kenji & Kajio Shinji
7. Mushi to Uta by Ichikawa Haruko
6. Mejirobana no Saku (A White Rose in Bloom) by Nakamura Asumiko
5. Innocent by Sakamoto Shin’ichi
4. Chū Chū Kanakko by Arai Aki
Non-Manga favorite: Blue Rivers Revolution by Hirotonfa
Light Novel favorite: Kidnap Kidding by Nisioisin
3. Điện Biên Phủ by Nishijima Daisuke
2. The Five Star Stories by Nagano Mamoru
1. Fool Night by Yasuda Kasumi
Looking back at 2023, I am pretty satisfied with the works I read, and I plan to read more manga besides work in 2024. Originally, I wanted to go more in-depth about each title similarly to last year, which I will not do this time, or at least not now and not on this platform.
If you want to read my abbreviated thoughts on each title and look at some art, here are two threads I did on Bluesky and Twitter:
Bluesky-Thread:
https://bsky.app/profile/vonmandelbrot.bsky.social/post/3kig22sevod2i
Twitter-Thread:
https://x.com/vonMandelbrot/status/1744077426836017342?s=20
I wish you all the best for 2024!
All the best to you as well, I understand your decision to leave Substack. Will definitely be looking out for new writings from you elsewhere so please keep us (me) updated!