It’s peak I fear. The best rally game I’ve played in quite a bit. Abandons realism, exhaustive car customization, and graphical intensity in favor of simple and fun arcade goodness in the format of a lite Gran Turismo campaign. Simple, no bullshit, just a lot of maps and challenges to complete.

Frieren Volume 1: The key here is how understated this manga is. There’s no world ending stakes (yet at least), no long, earth shattering battles, and no tropey isekai bullshit. It’s just understated dialogue, small tiny conflicts, nostalgic memories, and little emotionally shattering moments. Peak.

Demon Slayer Volume 1: Went in very cynical (I tend to do that with all shonen series due to fatigue) but was pleasantly surprised that it very much is worth the hype. Each chapter moves along at a very quick clip and it executes all the intro/training bullshit with efficiency and dramatic stakes.

Big fan of the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series so it inspired me to read the first volume of Initial D. I’m mixed on it. The passion the mangaka has for cars and car culture is so obvious. Every vehicle is rendered in fine detail and the book really gets into the gritty details of drifting and racing.

Just finished Delicious in Dungeon Volume 1 on a train ride. Absolutely fantastic. Tonally very interesting (brutal and violent yet a slow burn with low stakes) and beautifully illustrated. Also the amount of casual world building Ryoko Kai engages in a single volume is nothing short of miraculous.

I think Vanishing Point for the PS1 is extremely underrated. Yes it’s flawed and the design of it can be extremely frustrating, but mastering the game’s brutal handling model is genuinely tense and satisfying. I just started playing it for the first time ever a week ago and I can’t stop playing.