Well, That Didn't Take Long

Just last week I was mourning the loss (for around 18 months) of fresh episodes of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

Not that I'm short of shows - and movies - to watch, both new and old, but I turned to Crunchyroll to see if there were any fantasy animes that could help fill the Frieren-shaped hole in my heart.

I watched a couple, but they didn't really get their hooks into me.

Then I realised that Witch Hat Atelier had just begun, literally a couple of weeks ago. This was another manga that had been on my godson's Christmas list... and this one I actually got him the first volume of.

So, I was inspired to check out this new anime (to date, now, there have been three episodes released).

And it didn't take long for me, once again, to fall in love. This is a simply gorgeous anime, incredibly Ghibli-esque in its design.

It turns out that Witch Hat Atelier is the third pillar of current "fantasy big three" for manga and anime, along with my other favourites: Frieren and Delicious in Dungeon. So, I really should have been all over this before it even began on Crunchyroll.

So far, this is a brief my understanding of what's going on in Witch Hat Atelier:

In an exquisite fantasy world where only witches can cast magical spells, and must be unseen while doing so, young dressmaker Coco discovers she has this gift... as a result of a tragic accident. She is taken under the wing of visiting witch Qifrey, who seems to believe his new apprentice has a grander role to play in the future of their world.

The story hasn't yet quite gripped me in the same way Frieren did straight off the bat, but there is an elegance and beauty in Witch Hat Atelier that is incredibly mesmerising.

Additionally, as a bonus to ignoramuses such as I, Crunchyroll has released all the episodes dubbed, so far.

To be honest, I don't mind subtitles, but I find sometimes when I'm reading the subs I'm miss something happening elsewhere on the screen. 

There was also a massive issue with the release of the later Frieren episodes from season two where the episode would drop (with Japanese dialogue) on a Friday afternoon, but then the English subtitles would randomly appear some time later... sometimes immediately, sometimes two or three days later!

For those, like me, that instantly didn't grok the name of this new show: "witch hat" is because witches wear stylish conical hats as a sign of their status, and "atelier" is a French word for a workshop or studio. In this case, it refers to Coco's new home, the small training facility that Qifrey runs for handful of other aspiring witches.

And Now We Wait A Year-And-A-Half For More Frieren

Macht of the Golden Land, season three's big bad,
the most powerful member of the Demon King's Seven Sages of Destruction

It's been two weeks since Crunchyroll aired the final episode of season two of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, and I'm still thinking about it all the time.

An incredibly intelligent and nuanced anime, it blends long tracts of cosy, lyrical, slice-of-life storytelling with sudden bursts of - usually magical - fantasy violence.

I'd only really heard the name of the series late last year when I was talking to Clare about what manga Alec (her son, my godson) would like for Christmas. She gave me a list of titles and asked me to "report" back on which I thought would be appropriate. Top of the list was Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

At the time, the first volume of the manga was out of stock, but it looked suitably fantasy-orientated that when I saw the anime was on Netflix I decided to check it out... and the rest, as they say, is history.

I didn't really know what I was getting into when I started season one, but I was in love with the show by the end of the first episode.

Like Delicious in Dungeon and the classic Record of Lodoss War, Frieren's approach to swords-and-sorcery is clearly influenced by Dungeons & Dragons (our inquisitive heroine's passion for collecting magical tomes often sees her accidentally diving headfirst into treasure chests that are actually mimics!).

Frieren in mimic, Fern - her apprentice - being all judgy

In fact, the anime is pretty much a template for a dream character-driven campaign, interspersing dungeon crawls into an epic overland quest.

One of the aspects that really spoke to me was the story's main theme, a fascinating meditation on the different approaches to life between immortals and mortals, different perceptions of the passage of time and so on.

For those not au fait with this incredible Japanese animation, here's my - off the top of my head - summation of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End's general story (I might have some bits wrong and this certainly doesn't cover everything... not by a long chalk):

Immortal elf mage Frieren was part of a small adventuring party that undertook a 10-year mission to slay the Demon King. Then they all went their own way.

Fifty years later, Frieren discovers her former colleagues - including human fighter Himmel The Hero, who she was possibly in love with - are all dead or on the brink of death.

She wants to commune with the ghost of Himmel but the only place she would be able to do this is at the northernmost tip of the continent.

So, she sets out on this new adventure, on the way picking up a pair of young companions, former wards of one of her old party members, including Fern, a stoic mage, and Stark, a cowardly fighter.

On their journey they undertake a number of side quests that earn Frieren magical Grimoires containing seemingly useless spells... which will surely have some pay-off down the line.

The first - 28 episode - season of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is available on Netflix, while season two, which is only 10 episodes, is - currently - only on Crunchyroll.

Season three is slated for October 2027 and was announced at the end of season two. Production has begun and a teaser visual (at top) of the powerful demon Macht of the Golden Land was released on the day the final episode of the current season dropped on Crunchyroll.

Such a layered and beautiful work, understandably, provokes a lot of discussion and analysis online and below are just some of the short videos examining aspects of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Carpe That Diem! Or "I'm An Idiot!"

I try not to dwell on regrets, I've long accepted the fact that nothing good comes from such negativity, as long as you learn something.

However, one of my biggest regrets - from which the main thing I've learned is my natural-born laziness is one of my most self-sabotaging traits - is never following up on the letter I received in September, 2002, from Hodder & Stoughton.

I'd always quite fancied myself as something of a writer and, at that time, had what I thought was a pretty decent idea for a novel.

So, I drafted a synopsis and sent it off to Hodder & Stoughton, having carefully picked them out from the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook as being a publisher that might be interested in my idea.

I got a letter back on July 31 asking for three sample chapters.

These were written and dispatched and then, on September 11, 2002, I got a letter back from the submissions editor.

You can read the important information below:

It was an amazingly positive way to say " no, thank you, but..." and I should have been encouraged by the letter.

You know what I did with it? What thriller project I wrote next to send to the publishers?

Nothing.

Sweet Fanny Adams.

Nada.

Zilch.

Honestly, now, I have no idea why, except, I expect I was distracted by drink, girls, TV, cinema, the usual ephemeral nonsense that catches my fickle attention.

I'm not printing this letter to say: "Look at me, what a great writer I am", nor am I seeking any sympathy (as there was no one to blame but myself).

Rather I want to emphasise what an idiot I was.

This is a lesson to all you young whippersnappers out there, to my godson Alec and his sister Bettany, to Paul's girls, and all the children of this blog's readers: don't be like me.

When life gives you lemons, don't file them away then go to the store and buy lemonade.

Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way.

Carpe Diem!

At the very least, I should have used that letter to try and get myself an agent... which in turn could have kept me better focused on my professed desire to become a published author.

The damage my stroke did to my concentration - and other aspects of my brain - pretty much guarantees this ship has sailed, but if any good is to come from all this, I want it to stand as an object lesson that others can learn from.

The galling thing about my gross stupidity - and laziness - is the number of films I continue to see that feature ideas very similar to the ones I had way back in my proto-novel with the working title of The Donner Project.

I AM THE WARLORD OF MARS!!!

Great White Ape of Barsoom (picture by Nick)

This weekend found Nick and I back at our local wargames' show, Cavalier, at the Angel Centre in Tonbridge.

It was my first time in a couple of years and while I wasn't feeling one hundred percent, I was determined that my excitement would see me through. And, thanks to Nick stepping in as my ad hoc 'carer' (in the absence of Rachel, who was at home with Alice), I managed an impressive (for me) three hours at the show.

The highlight of the day came early, when Nick and I had barely seen a quarter of the displays and traders, as a gentleman from the Maidstone Wargames Society invited us to join in their Labyrinths of Mars participation game.

This was one I'd mentally flagged ahead of time, looking at the list of games on the show's website, because - as I suspected - it was John Carter themed.

The game was a reskinning of the classic family board game Labyrinth, which I'd played with Nick and his son, Alec, several years ago. However, this iteration included fighting and treasure hunting, and was scaled up to feature 28mm miniatures.

My dynamic duo of Barsoomian warriors before battle commenced

The ever-moving Labyrinth of Mars

Nick's team (top) make a strategic withdrawal from my gang (bottom)

As with the boardgame, you always start your turn by sliding a spare tile into the layout - pushing all the other tiles in that row on one space, thus constantly reconfiguring the Martian (Barsoomian) maze, and making planning ahead quite challenging.

There were four of playing and we each had four objectives to find before we could escape the labyrinth, be they treasures, allies, or boosts, and you could earn special cards as well that gave you extra abilities or bonuses.

I'd got three of my objectives (a couple of artifacts and a Barsoomian prince), without making too much of a scene about it, but the last thing I needed for my 'collection' was The Great White Ape (pictured above).

The only problem was The Ape had just joined Nick's team, as Nick had played a "brain transfer" card on it, giving it a Barsoomian brain... rather than a raging great ape's brain!

So, I had to attack Nick's party! Aided by the prince, we overpowered Nick's characters (and with some lucky die rolls) and the ape opted to join my "stronger" team.

Then on my next turn (again more by luck than judgement), I was able to slide the walls of the maze to open a straight avenue to the exit... where I was declared not just the winner, but WARLORD OF MARS.

I suspect Nick is never going to forget how I robbed him of potential victory!

After this, we resumed our patrol of the main hall, and the first person we bumped into - who was demonstrating his grid-based Vietnam War game - was Paul of Pazoot, a wargaming YouTube channel I have recently discovered (thanks to his work with Big Lee of Miniature Adventures).

This was my first - in-person - encounter with an actual YouTuber.

Paul's 'Nam game, which he was putting on with the East Kent Wargames Society, will be the second of his Battle Chronicle range of narrow-focused rules sets across different historical periods. The first is 1812: Retreat from Moscow, which Big Lee is working on.

Here follows a brief selection of some of the other games being played at Cavalier:

Shepway Gamers' The Englishman's Castle: a 28mm Wars of the Roses conflict

The Kent & Sussex Dungeons & Dragons and RPG Club had a glorious set-up...

... their gorgeous 28mm scale ship reminded me that no one was selling Blood & Plunder

Milton Hundred Wargames Club's The Mog '93: Task Force Ranger in Somalia

You can never go wrong with an enormous Star Wars space battle (Friday Night Firefight Club)

Of course, as well as gaming, these events are also for shopping. Both Nick and I, in our own way, were surprisingly restrained this year. While Nick didn't buy anything, I managed to restrict myself to items for my Dead Man's Hand (Wild West) game.

I found myself mainly being drawn towards terrain, as I have enough unpainted gunfighters etc already, waiting to sent off for painting.

Me admiring Beowulf Miniatures Printing 3D printing range of Western buildings
(picture by Nick)

Amazing fantasy terrain at surprisingly affordable prices - I'm impressed I resisted

Pumpernickle Games do some lovely stuff - I hope to get some desert bits from
them at a later date, but, in the meantime, who doesn't want their own Stonehenge?

At the end of the day, I only purchased a Western bank, from Beowulf, with interior fixtures and fittings; a pair of metal cacti and a pair of resin outhouses from Debris of War; and a log cabin.

My haul from Cavalier 2026

It was a great time and I'm glad I persevered. I'd wanted to play at least one participation game, but wasn't sure if I was up to it. So I'm delighted it happened to me one I was looking forward to checking out.

I did have one "funny turn" - after squatting down to look at some items that were being displayed on the floor, then bobbing up again. But Nick kindly offered me his arm and helped me to a chair, where I could rest a while.

Once I got home (Rachel came and picked me up), I was totally zonked out for the rest of the day, then had a rough night of near-continuous coughing. But, you know what, it was so worth it.

I had a fantastic time with one of my oldest friends, we got to play an awesome wargame... which I won, we chatted with a ton of people, and I got myself some more bits for my PROJECT 60 wargame of choice.

And I've already have made a shopping list of future bits and bobs I can order from these traders online.

Below, you will see a 17-minute video by Model Paint Whatever of the sights and sounds of the day, which shows off way more of the games on display than I have:

And here's a piece from Big Lee himself about Cavalier: