dr. b

Holy smokes, what a pair of starting performances by Snell and Yamamoto to start the NLCS! I'm pulling for the Brew Crew. I love the way they play. They have some similarities to the Blue Jays in that their lineup is deep and aggressive and doesn't strike out much. Both teams are relentless. But... sometimes there just isn't a good answer for elite pitching. Seattle and LAD coincidentally have two of the best overall pitching staffs in the whole league IMO. Seattle @ LAD will be an interesting World Series match up if that is how it pans out. There will be a big win for Toronto tonight in Seattle though. I can feel it in my bones.

I am OK for now. Beginning to feel worried but not yet hopeless! The first inning of Game #1 turned out to be a bit of a turning point. They had Miller on the ropes there. Vlad hit the ball so hard but it found a defender. Then Kirk and Varsho couldn't get a hit after Barger took a walk. If they had put up a crooked number there then perhaps it would have been a W for the Jays. I like that the lineup stayed very aggressive against Miller, because I think they would rather face him than most of the M's relievers. But to Miller's credit, he settled down and located his pitches much better in the following innings. He pitched really well. And the M's bullpen has been shutdown. It unfortunately is bringing back painful memories of the 2015 ALCS and the Royals' killer bullpen that prevented the Jays from getting into the World Series. That Jays team would have crushed the Mets... These first two ALCS games plus last night's first NLCS game go to show how big of a deal pitching is in the postseason. Toronto and Milwaukee both have deep lineups. Lots of great hitters that don't strike out much. But when the pitchers have their stuff going and they are locating pitches, it's tough. The pitcher is in control. Toronto's pitching staff simply doesn't compare to Seattle's. They have to score more runs. The Blue Jay pitchers also have to find a way to limit the M's bats more. With the 2-3-2 format, Seattle being up 2-0 now is a massive advantage. I do believe that Toronto can make adjustments and turn it around. Need to win at least 2 in Seattle to make it a series again. If they lose Game #3 then the series is effectively over. Tomorrow night could be a very bad night for me ...

I wasn't a big fan of the pitching change either. Who knows, maybe Carpenter would've homered anyways. But Kirby could have kept rolling after that even if he did allow a HR. What a long game! I went to bed after the 7th I am hyped for Game #1 tomorrow night!

Forgot to mention Dogsred in my big post. I am still following and really enjoying it. The game that's been happening over the last several chapters has been really satisfying. If you are even remotely interested in hockey, I recommend giving it a look. Super fun cast of characters.

Just confirming that Yano-kun's Ordinary Days is 100% a winner

You beat me to resurrecting this thread! Oh man, I was on pins and needles that whole game last night. The way Toronto blew their Game #3 lead really left a bad taste. Uncharacteristically sloppy defense, poor pitching, they let the Yankees right back into the series. The hitters struck out a lot in that game too. I think everybody was pressing too hard. Of course, Judge is a superhuman as well. That big HR was nuts. 100 mph and pretty far inside. Not many hitters can do anything with that pitch. He sent it into orbit! He's been hitting all series really. But many of his at-bats were coming with nobody on base == less dangerous. I was seriously expecting Game #4 last night to result in a loss since it was a bullpen game. But the pitchers really came through when it counted. A true team win. Nearly every guy in the lineup had a hit, they used 8 pitchers. They got back to playing sound defense. Everybody contributed. The pitchers allowed more walks than you'd like to see, but they managed through it anyways. The M's are playing with fire facing Skubal again. He pitched quite well in Game #2 despite not getting a win. He won't be on short rest in Game #5. I could see him going 7+ innings again and stifling the M's lineup. Then it's a question of whether the bullpen can finish it off. And if Detroit's lineup can score some runs in Seattle. It's going to be an interesting game tomorrow! I'm cheering for the M's all the way. But if Detroit finds a way to get past Seattle, a Detroit @ Toronto ALCS would be pretty fun as well. These teams had a really good rivalry building in the 80's. Detroit is not far from Toronto. But when Detroit got moved from the AL East to AL Central in the 90's, they played each other way less, and it hasn't really been the same as the old days.

I really enjoyed Zenshu! --- I liked the first episode of Shabake. Intriguing and compelling. I'll watch more. I'm just seconds into Yano-kun's Ordinary Days' first episode and I have a gut feeling it's a winner for the light-hearted / comfy vibe.

Fall Season incoming! What are we looking forward to? MAL Fall 2025 page AniChart Fall 2025 page Crunchyroll Fall 2025 lineup A few that caught my eye: Gnosia - It's been a minute since I watched a good sci-fi series, hopefully this will deliver something good Let's Play - Could be amusing Shabake - Crime/mystery period piece, sounds like something I would enjoy if it's executed well Digimon Beatbreak - Why not! There are also a couple of comedy / romance series that might be enjoyable if I need something comfy and light-hearted to watch. Finally: Gachiakuta is one that apparently I totally missed during the summer season, and it's continuing in the fall. I'm gonna get caught up on it. Looks cool. Bones does good stuff.

I might have posted spoilers in re: DB Daima in the out-of-season anime thread so don't read that post just yet I still haven't checked out the Witch Watch anime. I really adore the manga and I am slightly worried the anime won't live up to my expectations I took my daughter to the Demon Slayer movie last weekend and she really liked it. Guess she's got good taste! I still have not read/watched anything Demon Slayer. I suppose I should do something about that eventually...

I just discovered this dude Donny Benét today. It's a kinda goofy take on 80's pop and disco. Pretty incredible stuff. The bass line on "Mr Experience" I'm gonna take a deep dive into his albums on Spotify over the weekend.

I think Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! is an absolute classic, must-listen record for any fan of punk / post punk / new wave / etc. That album is so good start to finish. Their subsequent releases were a bit more hit and miss, like they would have some choice cuts but also some duds, not exactly completely solid albums. Also, the concept of Devo opening for MCR is pretty funny. The OG lineup from Devo are all boomers and the band was formed before Gerard Way was even born. Devo must have felt pretty old on that tour

Same here! I've been thinking a lot of thoughts about manga for weeks and weeks and weeks now with nobody to chat about it with Should have logged back in here a long time back Agreed re: Kaiju No. 8. The possibilities of the story kinda got maxed out, otherwise it would have just gotten silly. Had to end. re: Witch Watch: Part of me also wonders how it's continued as long as it has, but I'm super glad it has. It's such a quirky cast of characters. Very fun. re: Dandadan: I am still watching and thoroughly enjoying the anime too. The introduction of Kinta in the anime has not disappointed. That fucking guy cracks me up. Kinta the end of joytoy pegasus Sakata The story continues to get better for a while yet before it plateaus and then (IMHO) begins to stagnate. (But this could just be a case of me being a dumbass Maybe eventually seeing the current arc animated will change my mind) Someone Hertz is definitely a winner so far in my books. Highly recommend. I would also suggest you take a look at Kurumizawa's Folly. It's an interesting concept and I like the old fashioned aesthetics. It's a period piece and I have really enjoyed the first few chapters. I also thought about checking out Otr of the Flame but never got 'round to it. Speaking of other new ones, did you check out The Marshal King? I really wanted to like it but I found it to be a let down and gave up on it rather quickly. If you've been reading it and think it's been better recently then maybe I would give it another shot. I felt like the first chapter had so much potential and was building up this cool world and concept... and then Jimmu had to go to school 😐 Just feels like such an overused concept. The last couple pages of the first chapter soured me on it. I read it a few more weeks after that and it just couldn't hold my interest. Ah well.

Apologies for disappearing. I felt like I had to spend less time online and focus on a bunch of IRL stuff. In hindsight, I probably still could have spent some more time online and taken care of the IRL business. But maybe it was good to focus. I dunno Hope yer all doing well.

Probably I'll remember my password this time

You got that right Eizan!!! The Jays have for the most part been a very good team since basically late May / early June. Seemed like it might have just been a mirage for a while there. But they kept it up for so long it's starting to feel real. The last week was a bit of a struggle for them. But now they finish the season at home in Toronto against Boston and Tampa. They don't have as easy of a schedule as the Yankees (also at home, and playing the Chicago White Sox and then Baltimore) so the division isn't settled yet. The Jays need to win a good chunk of the remaining games this week. The nice thing is all they have to do is win. Easier said than done, but at least they don't also need other teams to lose. It's good to be in control of your destiny. I'm super happy to see the M's have been on a nice run recently too. I'm stoked for you and a few other friends of mine that are M's fans. If/when the Jays are out of the picture, I'll be on board the M's bandwagon right away assuming they can go on a deeper run than the Jays. Outside of good stuff happening with our ball teams, how are you doing these days? As of today, our squads are #1 and #2 and get the byes But there are six games left to play and the Yanks might still be a problem for the Jays. If Toronto tumbles down into the Wild Card bracket, it's gonna be painful. The pitching staff could really use the rest.

Don't mind me. Just needed one more post and there weren't any good threads to bump. * * * It is done

Feels good

I have been on a major new wave kick lately. So much DEVO, among other things

and a Happy New Year! Seriously though happy very belated birthday @Psycho666Soldier 35 is a bit of an interesting milestone. I hope you're doing well.

I will once again reign supreme over the Portal!

Oh man... so many series to comment on... Manga is the one thing I've really kept up with. Undead Unluck had a solid ending. I enjoyed it. I still wanted more Beat & Motion in my life but I agree it was a good place to end it. That was a special series. The recent ending of Kaiju No. 8 kind of caught me off guard. Knew it was coming but I thought maybe there would be a couple more chapters. It was an OK ending. Not bad but could have been better. Show-ha Shoten! on the other hand, I thought stuck around just a bit too long. Probably could have been one or two chapters less. But it was a pretty satisfactory ending all things considered. The final competition was great. Wild Strawberry got worse and worse as it slowly worked towards the end. Only 50 chapters so I think it's worth a look in any case. Started with quite a bit of promise but didn't get a great finish. Kill Blue is one I started binge reading just a couple months ago. Then it ended rather abruptly only a few weeks after I got caught up I really enjoyed this one. Lots of fun and likeable characters, and a kooky premise. The ending wasn't super smooth but it worked well enough. Give it a look if you haven't tried it yet. A couple more I picked up and quickly binged to current on, similar to Kill Blue, were WITCH WATCH and Hima-Ten!. Both series are extremely fun. So many likeable characters. Hima-Ten! is a bit more fanservice-y than I would typically go for, but it's tasteful enough. Honoka is absolutely the best girl Not that Himari or Kanna are bad choices either Spy x Family continues on at its weird pace. Recent chapters have been good. I'm curious to see if the story ever ends or if it stays mostly episodic and has a non-ending whenever the author is done with it. I wouldn't mind that. We can use our imaginations. The Elusive Samurai is approaching the end now. Not sure how many chapters will be left. I love this series and it's consistently been really good. The anime was a lot of fun too. I'll be bummed when it ends. Sakamoto Days has been a wild ride lately too! A bit hard to keep up with all the stuff, but at least that keeps it exciting. Anime was pretty solid so far too. Akane-banashi is #2 behind Elusive Samurai for my favourite on-going series. The time skip that happened felt a bit weird at the time but it worked in hindsight. The thing with Shiguma was a bummer. I am hoping so badly that Akane wins the event she's in right now. Kagurabachi is another one I'm quite high on. Great newer series with lots of action. Choujin X is almost done... I think? Lots of twists and turns, and it gets really confusing at times, but overall I still enjoy it. Dandadan is getting to a point for me similar to Jujutsu Kaisen during the Culling Game arc where I'm sort of just ready for it to end. Which is a bit of a bummer because it had been so good for so long. I still like a lot of the characters, but the current arc isn't as good as previous story arcs. Speaking of JJK, the new spin-off Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo is probably going to be bad. I wasn't thrilled by the first two chapters. I guess I'll stick with it a while anyways. I am also frequently confused by what happens each week in Chainsaw Man It's not bad but it's not great either. I might have had enough. I'm enjoying a couple of newer sports series: Harukaze Mound (baseball) and Ekiden Bros (running). Harukaze Mound especially. I love an underdog. I hope it sticks around a while. I'm not sure about Ekiden Bros' longevity. Last week's new title, Someone Hertz, had a strong start and I think I'm going to really enjoy following it. I also got into some longer monthly titles over the winter. I read through Twin Star Exorcists shortly after it finished. Kinda weird but at times very good and it held my attention at least. Then I got caught up on Seraph of the End a few months ago. It is chugging closer to the finish, but since it's a monthly, that is probably still a few months away. I remember trying the first season of the anime literally 10 years ago. This series has been going forever It gets confusing and dumb but somehow I like the manga anyways.

Sad state of affairs here with the anime thread only having 3 posts I honestly haven't watched a ton of new anime this year, so I'm not doing any better. Mainly reading manga. You guys looking forward to anything coming up in the fall season?

I didn't know about the new Ninja Gaiden game..! I'm excited now to try it. I am still hooked on Diablo II: Resurrected. I'm up to 35 Pats/Mats/Guardians now and just started questing #36 last week. It's a sickness But I did manage to take a break from D2R for a minute this summer to complete two FFV Four Job Fiesta runs. I love FFV.

GT is not the best but I have a soft spot for it. It isn't all bad. I recently watched Dragon Ball Daima and I mostly enjoyed it. Gotta love it when old stuff like the nyoibo comes back I suppose I felt pretty similarly about Daima as I did GT. There is good a bad. Interesting decision towards the end of Daima to bring back the SSJ4 transformation. I guess it's canon now..? Still not totally sure how I feel about that. I think the first half of Daima might have been better than the latter half. My last post in this thread was about GTO, which I finished re-watching months and months ago. I really savoured that one. Just one episode at a time, here and there. Wouldn't want to OD on nostalgia It's so good. Also re-watched Uncle From Another World over the last few weeks. It's a modern classic. I love the obsession with SEGA, it's brilliant.

I was so tempted to snag a Switch 2 on release day, but I managed to hold myself back. Definitely gonna get one eventually. Not exactly sure when though