ITC 15. New generations
Monthly Recommendations
Welcome to another recommendations-only edition. Cheer up, there is less winter left to face and the days are getting longer little by little.
→ Reflections
Many middle-aged people don't like to spend time with younger folks. I think that most people, when they reach a certain age, start to associate exclusively with others of their own age range or older. In highly hierarchical professional environments, this also implies a profound distancing from younger profiles.
The phenomenon may be bidirectional, but I have personally encountered more reluctance from older people than from younger people.
When I was young, I preferred to socialise with people older than me. I think that was key to my personal development. Older, more mature, experienced, disciplined and capable people unconsciously forced me to be better. Now, and except in the case of good old friends, I almost feel more comfortable with the opposite: listening to younger people who are far removed from what I consider normal, obvious, adequate.
In this sense, I have a triple advantage:
I have a teenage son. I try to help, inspire, encourage, listen, and get involved in what matters to him, but I also enjoy being involved in his educational environment, partly to observe how the new generations develop.
I have TKD colleagues and students who are adults, but young enough to be my biological children. I have been able to see some of them grow up since when they were very, very little. Most of them seem to me to be smart and passionate people.
Most of my coworkers are younger (or much younger) than me.
So I can naturally spend time with a lot of people from younger generations on a daily basis.
If you are over forty and you think that those born in the 90s or 2000s are a bunch of entitled people with no real skills, I recommend that you try to get out of your usual circle and take a look out there, with an open mind and a desire to listen, help and understand.
You will surely break down some walls, and I can say that these days, I learn much more from them than from those who preceded me. And it is quite likely that many of them are also looking for those “older, more mature, experienced, disciplined” individuals to learn from and grow with. Everyone wins.
Recommendations
1 → Books
Tower Dungeon by Tsutomu Nihei
That's it, Tower Dungeon has become one of my favourite comics at the moment. I feel that the potential of this series is huge and that it may soon become an international sensation, like Chainsaw Man did. I would be surprised if it didn't end up with an anime adaptation.
Tsutomu Nihei's artistic evolution since Blame! is evident and his current irregular and shaky style is a perfect fit for this dark story filled with, of course, large buildings and repulsive creatures, two elements very present in his works.
The plot is as simple as it is effective (and appealing to dungeon crawler fans):
A necromancer has murdered the king, kidnapped his daughter and taken refuge in the mysterious Dragon Tower, a huge 100-level structure protected by all kinds of horrors. Different groups of adventurers enter the tower trying to reach its summit and defeat the evil sorcerer. Along the way, of course, plenty of secrets to be revealed.
Forget the light and carefree fantasy so common in Japan. Tower Dungeon deserves the label of Dark Fantasy. You can read it in English (Kodansha USA), but it’s been published in multiple languages already, including French and Spanish.
Fables from Faraway by Aki
Chinese artist Aki Yehuo has been working for the videogame industry for years and you’ll recognise her style in the very beautiful character design for AFK Journey, a game that I played for some time just to appreciate her work in it. I know that the character design art is what keeps a lot of gamers hooked on the product, which is downright impressive.
This book was a present from last Christmas and was originally financed via Kickstarter. It contains a lot of original illustrations and it’s one of the best products for appreciating Aki’s art. It’s increasingly harder to get a copy, though, so hurry up before you have to pay indecent amounts of money for it!
2 → A game: Dredge
Dredge was quite a sensation when it was released in 2022. Could an indie fishing game become a potential game of the year? The answer was YES. Actually, a film adaption has even been announced !
Dredge is an independent game by Black Salt Games (NZ), developed by only three people!, with fantastic art direction, where exploring the waters, managing your inventory space and solving little mini-games become your bread and butter. But of course… there’s a lot more going on than that. A whole pseudo-Lovecraftian plot unfolds beneath. Do you find it difficult to juggle all that? Give it a try. And now you can even enjoy it on your iOS device!
3 → Films & series
Common Side Effects
From the first trailers, it promised to be a series to watch this year. And in my opinion, expectations are being met (we are halfway through the season at the time of writing this newsletter).
This story will appeal to those who know Terence McKenna and his personal history with mushrooms and entheogenic substances, in this case less linked to the unconscious or illuminating matters, and more to physical regeneration and the pharmaceutical industry. A story full of mysteries and conspiracy. You can watch the series on Adult Swim/Max.
Look Back
It is surprising that someone capable of creating such extreme, cruel, twisted and crazy stories as Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man is able to bring from time to time one-shots like the one we are dealing with, recently adapted to animation, with a duration of less than an hour.
Look Back is the story of a friendship born of an (apparent) rivalry. A story of growth, discovery, search for identity, dreams that come true and dreams that go wrong, mourning and a few other things. His fresh and carefree style suits it great and the author's style is clearly recognisable.
Tatsuki Fujimoto is undoubtedly a new generation author who dares to break with the most elementary conventions of Shonen. Unmistakable. I hope he ends up cultivating this more profound and adult, humanistic facet of him. You can watch it on Amazon Prime.
4 → Artists
Gigi Cavenago
This super-talented Italian artist has been making his way into the comic book industry at an impressive pace with his beautiful, painterly, rich work. His work for Dylan Dog is especially celebrated. Each of his pages is a unique work that deserves to be contemplated with care. Permanently maintaining this level of artistic excellence is typical of geniuses. If you are an illustrator, Gigi's work is perfect for when you feel like feeling like an insignificant insect... or for when you are looking for otherworldly inspiration.
Amélie Fléchais
Amélie Fléchais is a French artist with a really serious limitation: she can’t make illustrations that are not endearing, gorgeous and full of life. What a terrible fate. She’s worked for the comic book industry, on children’s books and in the animation field and it seems that many of her books are receiving international attention, with multiple editions of works such as Les Bergères Guerrières, L’Homme Montagne or Chemin Perdu.
5 → An essay: A Thorough Look at Dragon Age
The title says it all. Noah Caldwell-Gervais analyses all the Dragon Age games and DLCs to date, in his usual thorough, exhaustive, educated way. This essay is almost seven hours long, so it will be your companion for a good part of a working day, if you desire so. I can tell you it’s the best critique ever created around this work. You can watch/listen to the essay here.
6 → This month’s mini-lesson
Shaving your head
If, like me, you’re bald or considering shaving your head soon, there’s one thing you need to know: you can’t trust your eyes. Not even using two mirrors to help. You need to use your touch. The problem is touching your head when it’s full of cut hair and shaving foam. It's not the way.
The only effective way to shave your head is to do it in the shower. With a wet head and just soap, your hands will be able to quickly detect which areas of your head are not completely shaved. You will save on shaving foam, blades (which will wear out less) and time (you can finish your shave in less than 5 minutes, with practice).
Important: remember to hydrate your skin after shaving using some lotion. If you need help or extra info, I’m here for you. I’ve been in the game for twenty-two years.
7 → Music
The Red Strings Club by Fingerspit
Spanish composer Fingerspit (Paula Ruiz) has been part of Deconstructeam since (almost) the beginning of their successful development career. There isn't a single soundtrack she's ever made that I don't think is beautiful in some way, but the one created for The Red Strings Club is possibly her best work to date. This track opens the album, followed by fantastic pieces like Flashes Before Your Eyes. Ideal for working calmly on a rainy night.
Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
But if you prefer something more energetic, this is a song that always gets me moving. Super fun! Like its original video, that made me laugh a lot at in the past (directed by Richard Ayoade, who will always be Moss from The IT Crowd in my heart). Off with your head. Dance til you're dead!
The anti-recommendation
A film: Salem’s Lot (2024)
It’s been a while since my last anti-recommendation. And unfortunately, it’s another vampire film: Salem’s Lot (Gary Dauberman). We had an opportunity to bring back the very famous book by Stephen King, for the first time in twenty years, and once and for all leave a cinematic reference worthy of posterity.
Can you imagine trying to put together a feature-length film by stitching together bits and pieces from a 10-12 episode series? That's what they apparently did with Salem's Lot, creating one of the biggest narrative atrocities of recent times.
Characters appearing and disappearing, referenced events that we never actually see a scene of, confusing time skips, characters we never really build any connection with due to the huge amount of footage removed, significant changes to key characters from the original work that make them irrelevant…
Not even Alexander Ward's rather cool Barlow keeps the film interesting. A wasted opportunity that makes the good qualities of the film (especially formal ones) go unnoticed and, I fear, sinks King's work back into the mud and that may not be recovered for another thirty years.
Time to go back to my cave and bitterly weep, while I wait for Interview with The Vampire’s Season 3.
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See you soon!
Read a previous story:
Some good recommends here. Gonna need to check out Tower Dungeon and Common Side Effects.
Me ha encantado todo. Le voy a pasar tu newsletter a Lidia, le va a encantar :-D