First of all – I am a passionate Destiny 2 player like all of you guys out there reading this here. I can´t point out enough the strengths of the game like the amazing gameplay loop with the feel of the guns, the sci-fi feeling etc. But I don´t want to highlight the good stuff - the reasons why we keep coming back to this game.
I want to tell you my unfiltered story of my recent D2 PvP experience and the reasons BUNGIE can´t continue like this anymore. After realising that I wrote almost 1500 words with a lot of sentences with mostly sarcastic or what I consider funny outcome – I highly recommend you to grab a beer before you begin reading.
To begin with I´ll tell you something about me. I am a PS4 player who started playing again somewhere in the middle of the last season. I paused with playing the game somewhere after the Shadowkeep release, because mainly I coulnd´t cope with the skill-based match-making system anymore (and also because that was not that great of an expansion). Not gonna talk about this one though – sometimes there are things in existence, even Joseph has forgotten and forgiven.
Over the years I advanced from an average player to the „Unbroken stupid no-skill German sweat“ with 13k kills on Erentil, you sometimes encounter in your lobbies. BTW: Before you start with the no-skill bullshit – Erentil was my only defense against T-bagging NF-DustRock jumpy jumpy Hunter mains. And I love my Dire Promise or -insertyourfavouritesnipe- way more than I could ever love a fusion.
As you´ve just read - I missed the season when Felwinter´s Lie came out. „Sad thing, but nevermind“ I thought, „I will grind another good shotgun…“ Little did I knew that there is no other f**** weapon that can compete with it. Everything that could, is now sun-setted without adequate replacement. Europa weapons are trash and you know it BUNGIE. The raid stuff is great, but yeah, good luck convincing my even sweatier Flawless clanmates to do a raid… (no complains here at this point I could use LFG, but there are a lot of other people without a clan or solos who maybe think similar).
Instead there is this option for us PvP players: the new pool of weapons we got with the expansion that we can farm with tokens from Lord Shaxx and the powerful new guns Lord Saladin hands us out during our greatest fights in the Iron Banner.
Just kidding – there is f**** nothing…
I notice that my sentences become shorter, my blood pressure higher, the rage meter is increasing and my rhetorical level is tremendously shrinking. Fortunately after an argument in my head with Osiris, and hardly insulting him, that this season I only have half the season left to chase the Flawless title (which will be really hard BUNGIE, maybe even close to impossible), I am now willing to list my proper criticism:
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1. No motivation to grind crucible besides of getting better. I got my Unbroken seal seasons ago and since then there was no effort made to get me back into the comp playlist except for fun purposes or helping other players out on their D2 PvP Comp journey. I see some people cringe about the word „fun“ – but it is not half as bad as it used to be when Forsaken launched. Plus there is Freelance – give it a shot little PvE Warlock.
I wanna go to the crucible and have a goal again. Is it really that hard to add a new PvP-title BUNGIE? If you want ideas, message me – we´ll give you plenty. Even if it is the grindy mastery of weapons. I want to do something… just something besides of stupid, repetitive bounties. Before you ask – yeah, i did almost all of them during the old triumph system. It was a little incentive to keep me motivated, which is now also lacking. Do you remember that great reward you got for hitting your first We Ran? Neither do I. I really don´t wanna start with the endless possibilities to keep players motivated - regardless of their skill level. You all thought about that at least once....
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2. Can you listen to feedback once? Even your beloved steamers have been talking about this: Make Felwinter´s Lie availiable to all players. I also want to git gud at the game immediately, god damn it. Jokes aside: make it a hard quest. A grind. A total disgust when you look at your Quest Tab. An immediate cringe – but at least it will be something to do. You introduced the kiosk where you can buy EVERYTHING ELSE. Why it is not in there? dmg04, you know it - so tell us. Don´t crouch in the corner with a handheld supernova and a shotty!
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3. The lack of new armour, guns, and PvP maps. Is it that hard to design and implement 15 more (AND NEW!!!) armour pieces for us to chase? Especially after paying 50 Euro for the expaxion plus the useless season pass? Well BUNGIE, if you don´t have enough time you could also make them 10. The Hunters don´t really need new sets. They need better aim assisst… Also: new PvP maps for us? Nope. Not happening. Instead giving us old maps from D1 since… I don´t even know anymore and I don´t want to think about it. Never saw a Titan crying, don´t want to be the first one.
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4. The absence of Trials, which I can partially understand though. The criticisim lies somewhere else – releasing broken supers and guns that bring you out of map in PvP shows the lack of testing and the lack of interest of BUNGIE towards crucible. There are people who would work for you for free in their spare time and test things like this day and night to get your game better. Yeah… but it is due to COVID i guess. [And instantly I remember how many times Telesto broke the crucible when there was no pandemic.]
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And now the grand finale, that brings tears into my eyes and the number one thing. The stuff that made me delete the game today and keep it uninstalled until Trials will finally come. The reason why one day eventually I will move on and leave all the nostalgia behind. When the online friends (who became my real-life friends I regularely meet in person) I made during my obsessive, almost 2000 hour journey with D2 won´t be enough to keep me playing. Ladies and Gentlemen:
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5. The Servers.
Do you know the feeling of gambling in a casino? Putting 2,45 Euro, the feelings of your ex-girlfiriend and a dead pidgeon on red when it hits black? I don´t. But thanks to BUNGIE´s peer to peer system I can imagine. And I really want my dead pidgeon back...
The better you get in crucible, the more important your internet connection becomes or the connectivity in general. You speak about the future, about an MMO, your vision of the game, BUNGIE. So why don´t you start with something that is as essential as dedicated servers ? Nobody complains if you hit a Cabal around the corner with an Arbalest. In PvP you do. Your third Dire shot doesn´t connect but you get double damage and die? This sh*t is reality now on PS4.
„YoU cOMpLAin BuT TodaY wAs ThE New uPdATe“ – today the game had frequent fps drops, plus connectivity errors. You can handle it from time to time, but every play session there is something shady. Everyone I play with, is complaining about it frequently (not the fps-problems though – that was something new, YAY!)
You want to keep D2 going for another 2-3 years? Cool! I want to hit a crit on a head of a Warlock if I aim there. Lack of content is one thing, but technical issues are another. And i can´t close my eyes to the second issue anymore, it kills all the fun this game has to offer. Now – playing with less than 30 fps against lagging 60 fps PS5 Hunters soon? This idea killed something inside me today. And it killed it so badly that I created a reddit account for the first time and wrote this…
It´s written by a fan, destiny nerd and a person who is deeply disapointed after thinking about all the potential. I´d really love to see some changes. You made those amazing games BUNGIE. You build this awesome crucible, so why do you treat it like this? You make it look like you don´t care about us PvP-players. Do you even have professionals who are themselves playing crucible? Someone with an idea, because your obvious lack of concept is scary… Can we really expect a change? Is it really the time to stop t-bagging wannabe Flawless Hunters? I sincerely hope that just the second question here can be answered with a clear NO.
Thank you fellas for comin´ and watc… I mean, your precious time and stay safe and healthy during this pandemic.
PS: if you are triggered by the exaggerated, abusive bashing of Hunters, you lack humour and you should play Call Of Dawnblade: Stasis War instead.
PPS: I used to be a Warlock main in D1 – so there is hope for all of you. And remember: Lord Shaxx sees everything…

Continuing
“Hey, Viv!”, I say, as we’re all being shuttled onto the bus which will take us to our hotel, “Toss me one of those miniatures, if you please. Yeah. Of course, Vodka’ll do. It’s bloody dusty round these parts.”
Viv chuckles and asks if anyone else wants anything. He’s a consummate scrounger and somehow sweet-talked a demure and pulchritudinous female Air China cabin attendant out of her phone number, Email address, and a case of 100 airline liquor miniatures.
That he looks like a marginally graying version of Robert Mitchum in his heyday and speaks fluent Dutch, French, and Italian might explain his success. I mean, a guy with four ex-wives can’t be all wrong, right?
He’s a definite outlier in this crowd. We could be characterized as a batch of aging natural geoscientists who collectively, sans Viv, add up to an approximate eight on the “Looker” scale. Besides the years, the mileage, the climatic, and industrial ravages, it’s a good thing we all have expansive personalities, as most of us are dreadful enough to make a buzzard barf.
But, save for Viv, no one presently here is on the make. Oh, sure; we’ll all sweet talk some fair nubile into a free drink or a double when we really ordered a regular drink, but we’re all married, most terminally, that is, over 35 years and counting. The odd thing is that save and except for Viv, none of us married folk had ever been divorced.
That is strange, considering that the global divorce rate hovers around 50%, and we are often called to be apart from kith and kin for prolonged periods. However, we are always faithful and committed to our marital units and those vows we spoke all those many long decades ago.
But, hey, we’re all seriously male and not anywhere near dead; and there’s no penalty for just looking, right?
Continuing.
We’re all loaded on a pre-war, not certain which war, by the way, bus which stank of fish, kimchee, and diesel fuel. We really don’t care even a tiny, iotic amount. It’s free transport, we’re tired of traveling, and not keen on walking any further than we absolutely have to.
Viv has been passing out boozy little liquor miniatures, and I’ve been handing out cigars since I bought a metric shitload back in Dubai Duty-Free and somehow got them all through customs.
We didn’t light up, as there was neither a driver nor handler present. So, we figured we’d all just wait on the cigars, and concentrate on having a little ground-level “Welcome to Best Korea” party until the powers that be got their collective shit together and provided drivers, herders, and handlers.
We sat there for 15 long minutes. Being the international ambassadors of amity and insobriety, we started making noises like “Hey! Where’s our fucking driver?” and “I am Doctor Academician! Of All State Russian Geological Survey! How dare you make me wait? ”
Suddenly, a couple of characters in ill-fitting gray suits and fake Rays Bans are outside the bus having a collective meltdown. Somehow, someone fucked up and put us on a ‘regular’ bus and not the ‘VIP’ bus. In other words, we got to see what the locals really got to ride around Pyongyang on instead of our supposed to be impressed by the bus that wasn’t there; but was now just arriving.
A spanking new purple-and-chrome Mercedes long-haul bus shows up. It even has our group name emblazoned above the placard that normally tells where the bus is headed or who it is for: “’국제 석유 지질 과학 연합’ [Gugje Seog-yu Jijil Gwahag Yeonhab] or ‘International Union of Petroleum Geological Sciences’”.
We are brusquely ordered off our present bus and into the opulent, obviously bespoke, bright yellow faux-leather interior Mercedes-Benz Tourismo RH M. It’s so new and so obviously a ploy to get us to think that all things here are so new and opulent, it even smells of that new car, ah, bus, aroma.
“Well, we’ll take care of that soon enough”, I muse, as the bus is equipped with ashtrays and we’re going on the scenic route to our hotel, which is only 25 or so kilometers from the airport. However, it was announced that it’ll take us about 2 hours to get to our hotel since we need to see the city in its best light and get a feeling for the town if we should ever find ourselves lost and alone.
We all know what’s going on. They’re getting our rooms ‘ready’ for our arrival and need some extra time to make sure everything’s all wired in and transmitting properly.
“Guys”, I muse to our new handlers, “I’ve been to the Soviet Union, pre-wall fall. I stayed in places where I was definitely among the first westerners ever to grace their porticos. We’re a busload of natural scientists, of eight different nationalities, covering the economic spectrum from staunch capitalism to sociable socialism to hard-core communism. You even think for a second we’re going to spill any beans about anything you’d find interesting or useful? Think again.”
In fact, it would become a running joke between us all to see what sort of fake bombshells we could drop into the normal conversation what would give the listener’s the greatest case of the jibblies.
But for now, our bags were all loaded into the cargo compartment of this very, very nice, I must admit, mode of conveyance. Our handlers: ‘Yuk’, ‘No’, ‘Man’, and ‘Kong’, are all seated upfront and please with their latest tally of bodies. We have a couple of shady fellow travelers with the knock-off Ray-Bans and shiny gray suits that just appeared out of the woodwork in the back, seated by the loo, watching over all of us, and we’re going on a fucking city tour, whether we like it or not.
We’re all present and accounted for. Let’s keep our camera in our bags for the time being as the drinking and smoking lights had just been lit as the bus fired up its new German-engineered and machined precision diesel engine.
The bus rumbled to life and after a moment or two of checking that all dials, gauges, and indicators were where they were supposed to be; without so much as a cursory glance, we pulled out into traffic.
Except there was none.
Not another bus, pushbike, tap-tap, scooter, car, truck, hover-board, or motorcycle in sight.
Nothing.
Seems we were a big deal. They shut down the main drag so we wouldn’t be encumbered by such proletariat things like traffic jams or people-things cluttering the roadway, clambering for a look at the Western scientific cadre.
So, away we whizzed, sans traffic and into the very belly of the beast, and onward; eventually, towards our hotel.
Our handlers were very kind to point out passing scenes of interest.
“Look, look! There’s the Potong River. Notice all the lovely birds, ‘eh what? See the Norwegian Blue? Beautiful plumage!”
“See here, look. Here’s the Taedong River. Many forms of fish in the river. Maybe we’ll see some fishermen. If you like, we can stop, and ask them about today’s catch.”
We all declined, as we were certain that the fish the ‘random fisherman’ we’d talk to was flown in fresh from elsewhere earlier in the day.
Besides, we were comfortable. We had our drinks, our cigars, and we were leaving the driving to someone else.
After being driven around the city and seeing all the wonderful monuments, like the faux Arch of Triumph, which looks exactly unlike its namesake Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile in Paris.
The Arch of Reunification, a monument to the goal of a reunified Korea, which, by necessity, is unfinished. Then there’s the Tomb of King Tongmyŏng, where people are lining up, just dying’ to get in.
Finally, we all called for our hotel, the Yanggakdo, after yet another mausoleum, the Kumsusan Memorial Palace of the Sun.
Arches or tombs. Such a stunning array of monuments and places of less than moderate interest.
We were interested in Mirae Scientists street (Future Scientists street). It is a street in a newly developed area in Pyongyang to house scientific institutions of the Kim Chaek University of Technology and its employees. But we were told that it was too late, there was not much there to see, we needed to express written permission to visit, and we’d be going there tomorrow or next week.
We wheel into the parking lot of the Yanggakdo Hotel and are immediately unimpressed by the pseudo-Baroque concrete fiasco that appears to stand, wobbly, before us. It’s a page right out of the Soviet Construction-For-The-Masses Handbook. A cold, gray concrete edifice with multitudes of seemingly little, tiny windows. A perfect metaphor for our travels thus far; look at the expansiveness of Best Korean wonders, through this pinhole.
However, we judged too soon. We were told to go inside and check-in, whilst our luggage would be de-bussed for us and handled by the expertly efficient hotel staff. The lobby was opulent, tastefully laid out in earth tones of facades of veneers of marble, granite, some garnet-mica schist, if my hand lens doesn’t lie, some Prepaleozoic anatectic migmatite, displaying intricate and intense plication, xenoliths, and graphic delineation of minerals by segregation through melting points. There was a gigantic well-appointed and well kept up aquarium, complete with snuffling sharks and nuclear-submarine sized groupers.
Very handsome indeed. Impressions increasing slightly.
Then we see that there’s a bloody casino on the bottom floor of the hotel, several bars interspersed throughout the hotel, and karaoke, of which I’m not terribly fond, but some of my European counterparts almost swooned at the prospect. There are a large pool and weight rooms/gymnasia, saunas and places to relax outside of one’s room, but still under the watchful eye of the thousands of ill-concealed video cameras at every turn.
“Covert surveillance” may be a thing in Best Korea, but it’s a practice still leaves a lot to be desired. The Eastern Siberian Russians back before the wall fell were more covert with their obvious button audio microphones woven into the fabric covering the headboard of your Intourist bed than the Best Koreans here. Their cameras were ‘disguised’ as flower arrangements, overhead lights, and speakers inexplicably placed into things like standing ashtrays, refuse bins, and randomly placed holes in the wall.
The floors were all covered with exquisite what looked to be hand-woven rugs of most vibrant crimson and gold; the usual Communistic colors. Always with some sort of floral pattern or pattern that’s supposed to be reflective of nature, as I was told. Evidently, for workers to remember what nature was as they don’t get out much with 14 to 16 hours workdays here in the Worker’s Paradise.
Enough of the travelogue; we all wander up to the front desk, and each with their own passport in hand, request our reserved rooms. We supposed that we would all have rooms on different floors as the reservations were made, expired, re-made, juggled, rebooked, allowed to expire, re-jiggered, and finally formalized a scant week before we left the UK.
Nope. No such luck. We were all on the 39th floor. The place boasts 47 floors, of which, the top floor is a revolving restaurant. Evidently, food tastes better when you’re rotating.
However, it won’t spin unless you first buy a drink.
We had that thing whirling like a NASA centrifuge after its discovery the second night.
Yeah, all 12 of us are bivouacked on the 39th floor. A floor with approximately 30 rooms.
I guess we could have played “Room Roulette” and see who got which room and who’s luggage. Or we could switch every day or two to drive our handlers nuts. Or, we could just take our assigned rooms, which were conveniently located one empty room apart.
Meaning, no one had adjoining rooms. Why? Fuck if I know. We didn’t spend much time in our rooms, and that time was either sleeping or showering. We’d all meet at the bar, casino, restaurant, karaoke, bowling alley (all three lanes) or actual meeting rooms every once in a while when we thought we should get together and compare notes. It was the most inexplicable situation.
Plus, we spent an inordinate amount of time waiting on the fucking elevators to take us to our room. These elevators, and if you think you’re going to get a batch of aging senior scientists to schlep it up 39 floor’s worth of stairs, think again; are the slowest elevators in the civilized world. And that was the consensus of scientists representing not only Europe and North America, but Russia as well. 15-25 minutes added to each journey, up or down; stopping on every floor, except 5, on the way down..
Jesus Q. Fuck, dudes. If you can’t construct a bleedin’ elevator that works better than those at the Sozvezdie Medveditsy Guest House in Lesosibirsk, Eastern Siberia; then I suggest you seriously rethink your plans for world domination and new world order.
Grako and Erwin once, while waiting for the fucking elevator, figured out that we were earning some US$25 each just to wait for the lift to arrive and take us to our rooms. Every day. Sometimes several times per day.
With that, we all agreed to toss our “waiting time” funds into a kitty and on our last day of captivity here, blow it all in the hotel casino. Whatever became of that would be donated to the Koreans we thought most deserving of our largesse.
Would it be our handlers? How about the Korean Scientists we’d be meeting? The affable and most accommodating concierge? Or that plucky little Korean charwoman who was always on our floor and kept everything spotless, right down to our freshly laundered and pressed field clothes and newly polished field boots; done without our requesting or knowledge?
Only time would tell.
It could be a fortune or it could be bupkiss. Just like our expectations of the Heavenly Kingdom where we were currently sequestered.
As it was, with our official protestations, they kept only photocopies of our passports as we roundly refused and threatened a full-scale karaoke battle right here in the lobby if they didn’t relinquish our passports immediately. I had broken out my nastiest cigar and was primed to offend.
With that, we all had our keys and trooped over to the elevators for our first, of many, inexplicable waits. We made many uncharitable and potentially nasty remarks about the Anti-Western posters that made up some of the wall décor. Once we finally made it to our floor, we all fanned out to find our rooms. Viv found his first and was quite pleased to report to the rest of us that there was a “Welcome” basket in his room.
We all hoped that we would be receiving one a well.
I was in room 3914; which I considered a close call, but later only wondered as there was no 3913. Upon entering, I saw it was 1980s Hotel 6 opulent, but with an excellent over-city view. True it was late, dark, and the city was only somewhat lit up; I was looking forward to the view of the town in full daylight.
The room had a ‘king’ bed; that is if the king in question was Tutankhamen, the stubby, Egyptian boy king. The bed had no mattress pad and no box spring but it was hard enough for my liking. Many of my compatriots didn’t agree and complained bitterly. They eventually received thin mattress pads for all their kvetching.
There was an ancient Japanese color television, which only had 2 English language channels - Al Jazeera and the BBC, which was on a dated news loop. Watching the local channel is amusing though; the ads for ‘personal enhancements’ were hilarious, even without understanding a word of the language.
There were a couple of chairs and a low table, built-in dresser drawers for our clothes, a rusty and probably unusable room safe with corroded batteries, a small table built out of the wall that would serve as my travel office, and would-you-believe, a rotary telephone; how’s that for nostalgia?
There was an old-model radio built into the nightstand next to the bed. I was very surprised to find it not only received AM, FM but shortwave as well. I had brought along a pair of Bose headphones and during some rainy down days, spent many fun-filled, and I mean that sincerely, hours DXing from the comfort of my ‘enormous’ king bed.
Beyond that, the room was very nondescript. Like any other of the millions of rooms in hotels around the world that unlike here, aren’t claiming a 5-star rating. I mean, it was clean, if not a little long in the tooth. But didn’t smell too terrible, even after I took care of that with my Camacho offerings. It was utilitarian, everything worked, even the water pressure, which surprisingly could strip off layers of one’s skin if you weren’t careful.
The bathroom, though no Jacuzzi, had a large enough bathtub for the occasional soaking period. Western accouterments in the bathroom were also welcome additions. My knees can’t handle the traditional squat-holes any longer.
There were an electric teapot and several brands of tea, but no coffee. A quick “Gee! I sure wish I had some coffee!” to the four walls and damned if 30 minutes later, a porter didn’t arrive to replenish my tea and courtesy in-room coffee…
There was a small Japanese brand in-room refrigerator which I thought might house a mini-bar. Oh, no! It was actually a complimentary larder stocked with all sorts of Best Korean goodies. Multiple cans of Taedonggang beer. Several bottles of Pyongyang Soju, in various flavors ranging anywhere from 16.8 to 53 percent alcohol by volume. My fridge was skewed towards the right-hand side of the bell curve; the more heavy-duty boozy side.
Evidently, my reputation had preceded me again.
There was a selection of German-style wheat beers from the Taedonggang Brewery and the more familiar ales, steam beers, and lagers. There were some imported beers like Heineken, Bavaria, Pils, a couple of Japanese brands: Asahi and Kirin, and something called ‘Hello Beer’ from Singapore.
There were also ‘sampler’ bottles of Apricot Pit wine, and a couple of high-alcohol fruity liquors made from constituents such as apple or pear, and mushrooms. There were also special medicinal liquors like ‘Rason’s Seal Penis Liquor’.
That is going home with me unopened.
There were a couple of bottles of local sake, called Chonju. Finally, there was a couple ‘samplers’ of homemade alcohol known as Makkoli. Plus there was something called ‘Corn Grotto’, which for the life of me, looks and tastes much like a very passable Kentucky Sippin’ Bourbon.
I put our concierge on instant danger money the very next day. He’s yet to source me more than a fifth of the stuff so far.
I found that there is a popular drink here which mirrors the Yorsch of Mother Russia. Beer and soju can be mixed to create *somaek’; a foamy, frothy, funky drink of many flavors, depending on the soju chosen.
Is ethnoimbibology at thing? The science of how different cultures drink and the effects of drinking culture on different societies. If not, now I have another Ph.D. to pursue after I endow a chair at some likely Asian university.
Anyways, in everyone’s room was a “welcome” basket, just chock full of Best Korean goodies. Postcards, stamps, ads for coin sets, stamp proofs and other goodies that could be purchased at the hotel. There was a field notebook, which I thought was a very nice addition, newspapers, cookies, crackers, biscuits, candies, fruit drinks, and some fresh fruit; although tamarind chewies and durian chips aren’t on my list of personal favorites.
There were a couple of tour books, just chock full of staged photos. These were very nice as well, as so far, we haven’t had much time for shopping outside of government stores or smaller family-run shops in town or out in the boonies.
A few of us were hungry and decided to see what the hotel had to offer room service-wise.
Bupkiss.
But, they did have a selection of restaurants. There is a Chinese restaurant, a European restaurant, and a Korean restaurant on site but they all serve the same food...a Best Korean attempt at western food. And it was weird being the only ones in the restaurant even though it was fully staffed.
We grazed lightly and decided to do some late-night perambulations around our hotel. Our handlers admonished us to stay within the confines of the hotel, or see them if it was absolutely necessary to go walkabout. In the hotel, we were on our own.
We found that there were tunnels in the hotel’s basement. The basement tunnels were a real bonus. There’s a bar with pool tables, a karaoke room, bowling, and a massage parlor, where I was beaten and pummeled into submission by tiny, diminutive, little Korean lassies fully 1/5th my size.
It was wonderful.
There was a hairdresser’s, who were completely befuddled by my shoulder-length silver-gray locks and full gray Grizzly Adams beard. They did provide a lovely shampoo/cranial massage though for the equivalent of US$2.
There were a couple of shops selling Chinese goods rather than local stuff, which was sort of disappointing, a cold noodle bar, and another casino. No shops selling Korean Communist propaganda posters, as I wanted to augment my Soviet-era collection. Perhaps I’ll find something in-country later on.
We were shocked to find that the casino had WiFi that was uncensored and we were able to access; after a fee of liquor miniatures and a cigar or two. We were supposed to have access to the global internet, not local intranet, from the universities that we would be visiting. However, all of that was under the heavily squinting eyes of handlers and guys in shiny suits wearing fake Ray-Bans.
I still had my secret satellite internet lash-up available, but that was iffy, a pain in the ass to set up, and ridiculously expensive. However, it did work on the 39th floor and the times I used it instead of wandering down to the tunnels, no one appeared to be the wiser. Thus far.
So typically, we’d just head to the basement casino with our laptops, iPads, and phones. Bam! Robert’s your Sister’s Husband, we could connect more-or-less free with the outside world; hence how you are reading this now.
Herro! “Yes, I’d sure like another beer. This time a porter, if you please.”
The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain. Or the more they put into locks, the easier they are to pick.
Besides, we were told we’d have access to unfettered and free internet. OK, so we just found it for ourselves. Whaddya expect? We’re scientists, motherfucker, back off.
Ahem.
Back to reality.
The breakfast buffet the next morning had a wide choice of Asian and Western food, although the choices seemed to be the same every day. The main event was to beat the Chinese tourists to the egg station every morning. Breakfast always included fried eggs, a limited selection of pork, kippered fish, potatoes, rice, fruit, and a very Titanium-dioxide-white white bread
After a while, I took to going to the small market behind the lobby, buying some imported Chinese or Japanese nibbly bits and heading to the tunnels for a few breakfast beers before the long hard day’s work. It took almost a week, but I gained the trust of some of the workers in the tunnels and they showed me the on-site microbrewery at the hotel. It produced very passable, and very, very cheap beers of several varieties.
Liquid bread. Beer. Is there nothing it can’t do?
After breakfast our first day at the hotel, we were told to meet in the Conference Room “Il-sung” as we were going to have a ‘Welcome foreign imperialist scientists’ introduction and indoctrination.
Besides our handlers and the shiny-suit squad, there were several Korean folks we didn’t recognize. These were students, scientists, and scholars from the Kim Chaek University of Technology, Kim Il-sung University, the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology; all hailing from Pyongyang, and the University of Geology from North Hwanghae Province.
“Oh, marvelous”, Erlen remarked, “It’s going to be a bloody Chautauqua. We’ll be here all day.”
“Well”, I replied, “It could be worse. We could be on a bus headed off on another unscheduled road trip.”
As we found our seats, our Korean counterparts were busily setting up portable screens, like the ones your grandfather had for showing his 2.1 Googleplex worth of travel slides every Christmas or Thanksgiving get-together. They had a couple of ancient Chinese brand laptops that could have doubled for body armor, they were so thick and heavy.
While they fiddled with running cords for the overhead projectors and 16mm film projector; yes, it was going to be movie time as well, the hotel’s restaurant folks wheeled in carts laden with scones, cupcakes, and other sweet sorts of bakery. Another cart was wheeled in with pump-pots of hot water, tea, and coffee. Usual scientific meeting fare.
There was one final cart that made the day bearable. It held a pony keg of hotel micro-brewed beer on ice, with several dozen frosty mugs available for all who wanted to partake.
There were instantly 12 mugs that were spoken for.
I grabbed a cold beer and wandered around the conference room, sipping beer, chewing on an unlit cigar, and just trying to be pleasant to our hosts and their scientific guests. I was surprised when one North Korean professor, who spoke amazingly British-tinged English, offered me a light for my cigar.
“Is smoking allowed here?” I asked.
“Allowed?” he laughed heartily, “My good man, it’s practically a prerequisite.”
“Here then”, I said, offering him a nice, unctuous Camacho, “Try one of mine.”
Dr. P'ung Kwang-Seon of the North Korean University of Geology became my instant and lifelong friend at that moment.
We had a very nice chat, much to the chagrin of the gray suit cadre, who could hear what we were talking about, but probably didn’t understand anything beyond every 8th word.
After a while, we were asked to take our seats, after refreshing our drinks, and introduced to the group of Korean geoscientists we’d be interacting with during our stay here in Best Korea.
I tried to record every name, but between the students, other scholars, and professors from the various universities, I decided I’d ask for a list of participants once the day had worn on. After all, they had all our names, references, and resumes if the thick folio they kept referring to was any indication.
There were a couple of hours of introductions, as every one of the Korean geoscientists there introduced themselves, mostly through translators, told of their personal area of specialty, and their latest work.
Most were what would be considered geoscientists, but oddly enough, not one that you would consider a petroleum geoscientist, however tangentially.
There were geomorphologists, structural geologists, petrologists, mineralogists, marine geologists, engineering geologists, and seismologists. However, there were no stratigraphers, sedimentologists, paleontologists, or geochemists. We were all geoscientists, but apart from the obvious Korean:English disparity, it was as if we spoke different scientific languages as well.
That would be our first hurdle to overcome.
They had no oil industry here; none whatsoever, therefore why one would bother with the geosciences that fed directly into petroleum? That, in and of itself, would make it difficult to explore for oil in the country. Couple that with the fact that they’re so insular, think their version of ‘science’ is the best, at least that’s the official line, and think all other’s ‘science’ is capitalistic, substandard, and inferior doesn’t bode well for your country discovering anything either oily or gassy.
We were having another conclave around the beer keg, ack, err…a ‘coffee break’ and I mentioned this fact to my scientific colleagues.
“Guys”, I need input here, “We’re going to get precisely nowhere if they won’t even acknowledge that they have major problems from the start.”
Ivan replies, “Very true. I’ve seen this before back home. You get a group so entrenched in their own little corner of science, they can’t even accept or acknowledge that others exist. Not only exist but actually know more about a certain problem than do you.”
Dax joins the fray, “Sure, that’s very true, but who’s going to tell them this unfortunate fact? They could take that as a personal, national, and global insult. Imagine you’re at an international conference and a bunch of foreigners walk in just to tell you you’ve been doing it all wrong for the last 75 years.”
I add, “Remember, though. These characters are scientists as well. I think it’ll be a good measure of seeing what sort of science and scientist we’re dealing with here. If they are truly researchers, they’ll listen to and evaluate what we say as for veracity and accuracy. If they’re just a bunch of Commie goons; no offense, Comrade Academician Ivan, they’ll get all pissed off, kick us out, and we get to go home and enjoy our triple Force Majeure pay.”
Ivan walks over and deliberately steps on the toes of my newly polished field boots.
“In Soviet Russia, field boots walk on YOU.” He laughs in his heavily inflected, and scary, Soviet-era speech…
“Yes, I agree”, Joon adds, “But who is going to address this issue with our hosts? Perhaps one of our Russian comrades, as they are, or were, more politically aligned with our Korean friends and perhaps best understand the issue?”
Ack speaks up, grinning maniacally, “No, I disagree. We should have the one person here who so encapsulates the ideologies and political leanings that they love to hate here so much. You know; the quiet, diminutive, and soft-spoken North American…”
Dax recoils, “Oh, no! I’m not going out in front of this mob of ornery Orientals…”
I smile wanly and tell Dax to cool out.
“Relax, Dax. They’re talking about me.”
“Oh, yes”, a collective group of voices replies, “Yes. Let out fearless Team Leader break the bad news to our Eastern Colleagues. That way we can gauge their reactions to being bounced around scientifically by a member of the Evil Capitalist Cartel.”
“OK”, I reply, “I’ll do it. But be forewarned, my fine feathered fiends. I get stuck on a topic that’s not precisely my bailiwick, I’m going to throw your ass to the wolves. Remember, we’re all in this together.”
Whoops, and catcalls were reduced to mumbles and ‘Aw, fucks.’.
Chautauqua resumption was called and I asked for the floor.
It was a bit off the agenda, but since they’ve been chewing the air for the last several hours, they understood it would be appropriate for us to at least try and get a word in edgewise.
I downed my beer, and grabbed a fresh one as what I was going to say was going to be harsh, cut-and-dried, and rather pointed. But delivered in a pleasant manner.
I hoped.
This all had to be filtered through a series of translators, one for general conversational Korean and another for the more technical and scientific transliterations. I realized I was going to be up here for a while. So, I brought a cigar.
One way or another, I was going to deliver our pronouncements and hell, I may as well be comfortable while doing it.
.
“Greetings and felicitations, my Eastern Colleagues. Let me first say how nice it is to be here in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as part of the ….”
I’m going to fast-forward through all the flowery bullshit and introductory happiness; I’ll going to just cut to the guts of the matter.
“…Now, you do know why there has been virtually no oil, gas nor any other hydrocarbon related deposit discovered here in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea?” I asked by way of a rhetorical question.
I sipped my beer and lit my cigar. In for a chon, in for a won.
I let the buzzing subside on the side of our eastern counterparts.
“Because, and please do not take this as insulting or derogatory, but as a statement of irrefutable fact, no one with the proper training nor experience has been looking. You’re historically guilty of applying the science incorrectly and letting dogma and politics guide your search, instead of the scientific method and the facts. Geology, like all natural science, is just as truth based on the facts for a capitalist as it is for a communist. Reality is not influenced by your beliefs, be they scientific or political, secular or spiritual, ‘trusted’ rather than ‘thought’; any more than by your wish that it wouldn’t rain today during a raging thunderstorm.”
Little Boy over Hiroshima was dropped with less effect.
Our Democratic People's Republic of Korea colleagues erupted into a chaotic mixture of stuttering, internecine yelling, accusations, and sputtering.
Calling for decorum, I figured that since I was this far gone, I may as well push the plunger all the way to the bottom.
“Gentlemen, I do not denigrate the science of geology as taught and practiced here in Best Korea.” I actually said that, sort of a slip of the tongue. Continuing, “However, one would not fish for Bluefin tuna from a rowboat in a pond with a fly rod. One does not hunt bear in the city with a slingshot. Just as one doesn’t search for oil and gas with mining engineers, geomorphologists, and seismologists.”
I let that sink in and after the translation, they calmed a bit and wanted to hear the rest of what I had to say. I could sense a couple was less than thrilled with what I had to say, but forging onward…
“One fishes for Bluefin tuna in the deep ocean with huge rods, reels and a specialist boat captained by someone with deep experience in hunting the elusive fish. One hunts bear in the proper environment, the taiga or forest, with the proper tools and guided by one with the education, learnedness, and experience to know how to make the hunt come out successful.”
Hit them with some analogies they can relate to and digest. Now, go for the carotid.
“Just like one does not hunt oil and gas without stratigraphers, sedimentologists, geophysicists, petrophysicists, and other oil and gas experts who have the education, experience, and knowledge to know where to look. Knowing which environment looks most conductive to hide your quarry, if you’ll pardon the pun, and how best to find them, the guys who know how to corral and de-risk them once you find them, and the engineers and technologists who know how to bring them to the surface so they can be utilized.”
They had stopped being irritated and were listening in rapt attention.
“My colleagues and I have spent the last few days going over, in detail the geology of your country. There is nothing we can see that would preclude the development, entrapment, and preservation of economic quantities of oil and gas. Ture, the geology is quite complex as is the structural history of the entire peninsula. That’s one other thing you will have to accept. Geology doesn’t give the tiniest shit about political boundaries. One must look at the big picture, and that doesn’t stop at some man-made borders. Ignore that fact at your peril, because if you continue to view the geology here as not existing across political boundaries, you are preadapting yourself for failure.”
Drs. Ivan, Volna, and Morse make certain that everyone sees the ex-Soviets agreeing with the bushy-bearded, cigar-chomping American capitalist.
“So,” I said, hoping to bring this little spit-balling session to a fortuitous close, “If we can have an agreement; scientific agreement, on these points, then I am certain we can find a way forward with not only this discussion but the program we can devise for the best Korean (notice phase shift?) geologists to take the project forward both scientifically soundly and economically successful.”
My North Korean counterpart gets up from his seat in the conference room, goes to the keg, taps a couple of beers and walks up to the podium where I was standing.
“Thank you, Dr. Rocknocker, for saying what needed to be said”, he spoke in perfect English as he handed me a beer.
I grinned and gratefully accepted the beer.
“Why, Dr. Chang Kwang-Su”, I said, as that was his name, “You old fraud. You do speak English; and very well, I must add.”
“Yes, almost all of us do”, he relayed, “But, as you said, we are most reserved. We were more or less under orders of the ‘most illustrious’, to play coy, and act as if we spoke no English.”
“I see.” I said, “I’ve worked in several FSU countries as well as Russia and saw that there as well. I guess old habits die hard.”
“That they do, Doctor.”, he replied, “But, we must now tell you the truth. We knew exactly what you said is true, and we agree. We are not as totally insulated from the outside world as some suspect.”
“Well, I was going on what your superiors related to us. Like the police that had all their toilets stolen, I had nothing else to go on.” I replied.
“Ah, ha! Quite!”, he chuckled, “We had long suspected that we were lacking in certain areas of scholarship. What you said cements that fact as it was an independent conclusion. We can now present that to our superiors with the caveat that unless we bolster work and training in these areas, the hunt of hydrocarbon resources here will be for naught.”
“I am relieved”, I said, truthfully. “I was slightly concerned that some might take umbrage to being told their science is not up to specifications. I tried to be the bearer of that bad news but deliver it gently. Here, I find you need that to use that as a truncheon to smack one’s boss upside the head and tell him that an upgrade is required. And fast.”
“Ah, so”, he replies, “We are in total agreement. Now that is out of the way, we would appreciate it if you’d help in designing a course of study for up and coming local geoscientists. Then, we can go forward with a great plan to search for oil and gas here in…Korea. Correct?”
“Absolutely”, I remarked, “You’ve got over 400 man-years of science and exploration expertise here in this room alone. Let’s shoot for the moon, so to speak. Let’s get you up to speed on scientific journals and articles that are available out there in all of academia and industry. Let’s get you communicating on a global basis. Let’s prove that you can talk science with global scientists and still not have it affect your political or nationalistic aspirations one little bit. Let’s see if we can drag you, figuratively speaking, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.”
“Doctor”, Dr. Chang remarked, “You are the embodiment of what we were always told what Americans are. Brash, loud, confident, and evil. Except for evil, you are American as we were led to believe.”
“Hey, I take that as a compliment”, I exclaim. “You think that’s bad, I’ve got a bunch of earnest Europeans, raucous Russians, and a couple of cagey Canadians on my side as well. Before we’re finished here, we’ll have you ordering hachee, dining on Caldo Verde, snacking on salmiakki, drinking Russkaya vodka with Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, eating poutine, and rooting for the Packers.”
“Doctor, I don’t know what half of that means, but I hope it comes to pass. It sounds most fascinating.” Dr. Chang chuckles.
The rest of the day was spent with various groups crystallizing and breaking off from the main crowd; then reforming as different groups. This was good, as it showed an interest across not only national borders but across ideologies and scientific specialties.
Most everyone here spoke English with some degree of fluency, so the translators were called in only occasionally.
I made certain they were included in everything that transpired that day. I want everyone to feel ‘part of the team’. How better to show the classlessness of Western science to include everyone in on both sides of every discussion and activity?
To be continued…

Just realized I never posted this. I posted all of these write-ups over the course of the month of April in the Daily Discussion threads, here they are compiled for your reading pleasure.

• ”All The Way” by Ledisi

Ledisi is one of those people who’s big in the r&b/soul sphere that runs perpendicular to the pop scene but doesn’t quite make the area of intersection, which is a shame because she’s golden voiced and releases great music. This song is about the desire for an all encompassing love that loves her “all the way,” complete with a delicate string arrangement and that slow burn classic drum/piano, and she sells the hell out of it. It’s the kind of overly romantic song that usually gets labelled as wedding fodder, but when it sounds this pristine that’s not even pejorative.

• ”Arrived” by Jessi from UN2VERSE

This is standard “badass rapper boast” track but she manages to avoid (too many) cliches and elevate the song with synth drenched sonics. She has a very laid back flow that bleeds nicely into her raspy singing and it sounds great; this song just feels good to listen to, it’s very easy on the ears. She sounds like an absolutely fierce queen but there’s also a heartwarming little twist on the lyrics during the bridge that keeps the song from just being empty swagger.

• ”Biggie Smalls” by Cupcakke from Queen Elizabitch

This cut from Queen Elizabitch addresses the daunting topic of body positivity and knocks it out of the park. Her lyrics are layered and inspiration, using clever wordplay to take shots at the more toxic aspects of our beauty obsessed culture in a manner that’s simultaneously tactful and sassy. Her delivery is as fiery as always and the way she just attacks her bars works really well with the beat and the message of this track.

• ”Deliver” by Fifth Harmony from Fifth Harmony

On their final album Fifth Harmony felt mature enough to handle how horny their music was, and without Camila’s hurricane of runs in the mix they had to rely on confidence and charisma rather than just volume. Case in point: “Deliver,” a Mariah-esque r&b track that sees them spitting flirty lines over a smooth arrangement of piano/trap/finger snaps, is possibly the most addicting song in their discography. The song is really written to play to their strengths, giving them material they can handle and allowing each girl a moment to shine.

• ”Digital Girl” by TOFIE

The manifesto of TOFIE’s “2D music girl” persona, the song puts us into the mind of a pixelated girl living in a computer screen who wants nothing more than to make you happy. If that sounds overly saccharine… well, that’s the point! “Digital Girl” is pure cuteness, just sugary vocals sprinkled over an airy foam of synths with all manner of quirky sound effects layered in to make it that much sweeter. She fully embraces the anime-core style without losing that firm pop edge that makes this a song rather than just empty aesthetic. But the aesthetic isn't half-bad either.

• ”Diving” by Bridgit Mendler (ft. RKCB)

It’s hard to believe it’s been three years since Bridgit Mendler last released music… Actually no it’s not, it sucks and I want her back. Still, “Diving” wasn’t an awful note to go out on. Her brand of smooth “submersible” pop is as hypnotic ever, drawing you deeper and deeper into her world with every repeated refrain. She sings this song in a kind of strange place in her voice (like, right about where it breaks) but it makes the song so intimate, like she’s whispering in your ear.

• ”Empty” by Olivia O’Brien

“Empty” is an exploration of depression in the age of partying. It’s tempting to roll your eyes at this pretty white teenage girl rapping about how much life sucks, but the song actually works really well because writing and delivery on this song feel so painfully honest. It’s as edgy as it is relatable, packed with straightforward but true lines and a chorus that will have you screaming along with tears running down your face. It’s a cathartic track that just lets you pour your frustration out, maybe not the healthiest song to have on repeat but one that we all need every now and again.

• ”End Of The World” by Kelsea Ballerini from Unapologetically

Unapologetically tracks the journey of Kelsea from a breakup to a new relationship, and in this journey “End Of The World” signals the end of the breakup songs and the beginning of the love songs. It’s a big, beautiful song about the moment where she realizes that what she’s going through isn’t the end of the world, and allows herself to open up to love again. I love the way the melody rises and crests as the drums collapse down on her like the sky is falling, it really makes you feel like she’s pushing through the end of the world.

• ”Falling For A Lullaby” by FEMM

“Falling For A Lullaby” is propelled by wiry synths and an intense beat, but once the chorus hits and they introduce that dolphin-whistle synth it goes to a whole other level. In general the production has a very edgy vibe which matches the abstract lyrics that describe dreams, fantasies, and power struggles. They don’t really make sense (what does “falling for a lullaby” even mean?) but they sound cool and give the singers a lot to play with. FEMM just demolish the vocals, they sound so intense and their harmonies and riffs on the bridge are the best of their career.

• ”Friends” by Count CounselloJoy Anonymous from & The Friday Friends

This is a big electropop song with a really nice groove to it, I’ve seen it compared to The Talking Heads and it feels kinda Imagine Dragons-esque to me. It starts off kinda slow, just some repeating loops of music, but about a minute and a half in it just explodes into this huge chorus and then the party keeps going until the end. There’s so much power in that simple, shouted out “I wish we were friends again” that keeps me coming back for more.

• ”Girl’s Talk” by Chuu & Yves (LOONA)

The video for Chuu’s debut solo single “Heart Attack” depicts her as a young woman hopelessly in love with her group member Yves, so it’s appropriate that the single’s B-side should be a duet between the two, and while it’s not the out and proud lesbian duet one would hope for it’s still a delightful song. Musically it’s a swirling disco duet, with Chuu and Yves trading breathy lines over some really tasty guitar licks. Despite their repeated insistence that “it’s all about you boy” there’s an air of mischievousness to the track, a bit of a hair flip and a giggle. What does that mean? It’s just girl’s talk. ^gay

• ”Jackpot” by Dorian Electra

Dorian Electra really blew up last year thanks to a Charli XCX feature and the critical reception of Flamboyant, but I think a lot of Dorian’s pre-Flamboyant work is unfairly ignored and it’s a shame because they gave us some gems like “Jackpot.” It’s a fairly straightforward synth pop song but that’s not a bad thing, and it’s easy to hear hints of the hyper-pop sound that Dorian would later find success with. There’s a kind of cheap, almost sleazy feel to the song that’s definitely intentional and a lot of fun, and the neon tinged Las Vegas casino fantasy music video is one of my favorites from them.

• ”Kids” by Lia Lia

This song has been stuck in my head since 2017. It’s the kind of song that creeps up on you, Lia Lia never raises her voice and the instrumental is fairly low-key, but the song is so instantly memorable. The stuttering drum machine contrasts nicely against her gentle voice, which helps both elements really pop. It feels like she’s threaded the gentle melody through the noise around it and the effect is almost hypnotic.

• “Quit You” by Lost Kings ft. Tinashe

Tinashe said she cried for two days when the label forced her to release “Flame,” which is understandable for many reasons. Obviously the label was mistreating her and preventing her from releasing the r&b music that she wanted to make, but also she had already released a better version of the song earlier in the year? "Quit You," her collaboration with Lost Kings, is also a fairly straightforward ‘80s influenced synth pop song but strong writing and production have made it memorable years later. It has a very “2017” vibe reminiscent of some of the older stuff by The Chainsmokers. It’s easily digestible fun with an aggressively catchy melody and a great drop to spice it up.

• ”I Hate Love” by BNNY RBBT

Listening to this song the immediate reaction is “this is bizarre” but the more you listen to it the more hypnotic it becomes. The soporific autotuned vocals, the contrast between the softer elements (the bells and synths) and the harder ones (the drums and guitar), the bluntly edgy lyrics, they’re an eclectic mix that feels very unique. He strikes an interesting balance between darkness and sweetness, his music and aesthetics seem very dark but his melodious voice and a strange sense of gentleness undercut that. Interestingly we also have the demo for this song (which was found geocached behind a cafe) which in a weird sort of way I almost like better.

• ”Lost in the Wild” by WALK THE MOON

When I first heard What If Nothing I instantly pegged that this song would be a huge hit. I was wrong, of course, but I stand by the sentiment. This is the slickest foot stomper WALK THE MOON have put out since “Shut Up And Dance” and if there were any justice it would have received at least a fraction of that same success. WALK THE MOON are a true band, and every member is firing off on all cylinders here. Every part of this track is just so damn good; the drums, the guitars, the bassline, the synths, any one element could easily carry another song on its back but they stuck them all into the same track and the result is sheer euphoria.

• ”Love Story Wa Totsuzen Ni” by TWINKIDS

This song is a cover of a hugely famous Japanese song, and while the original is charmingly retro, this is sleekly modern. TWINKIDS give the song fresh life with trendy electronic production but the almost vaporwave vibe they go with helps it retain an air of nostalgia. They transform the song into a swirling duet and add plenty of bubbling synths that give a lot of layers to the song while still respecting how great the original melody is. They mesh well with the source material: they give it a more modern twist, it ropes in their tendency to get too ambient, and the end result is a really cool track.

• ”Not About You” by Haiku Hands

Though they aren’t exactly huge, Haiku Hands definitely made an explosive debut with this song. An electro-rave track, this song seems to be made up only of speaker pounding bass which the girls shout quotable lines over. What do the lyrics mean? What is the song about? Why are they yelling? That all seems secondary to the irresistible energy and bratty attitude that flow from the song. There’s an undeniable style to Haiku Hands, an air of effortless cool that’s a little unusual, but very refreshing.

• “Reflection Of A Disco Ball” by CeCe Peniston

2017 was the 25th anniversary of the legendary hit “Finally,” and while CeCe celebrated that she made sure to drop a new song to remind the kids that she’s still got it. This is such a carefree song that invites you to dance all of your problems away in the club, and the chorus is definitely an earworm! It’s got a groovy house beat (of course), a string section, backup singers, everything you’d want and expect from a diva like CeCe. While it’s not destined to become a classic or anything, it’s a great throwback to that ‘90s house sound and a wonderful shot of fun for fans of that era.

• ”Sass Pancakes” by Ashnikko from Sass Pancakes

Ashnikko makes what I affectionately term as “super villain rap” with an alt-pop twist characterized by heavy beats, braggadocios lyrics, and a slightly fucked up perspective. “Sass Pancakes” is a madcap monster of a track, starting off with an ironic sample of an old pancake commercial before Ashnikko bursts onto the track and describes some decidedly unwholesome things. Her flow is fantastic for the textured beat and she delivers a lot of fun, memorable lines with charisma. The song just has such a wild, unhinged energy that’s kept me coming back to it even years later.

• ”Slow Dance” by Kelly Clarkson from Meaning Of Life

Kelly shows a different side of herself here, a sultrier one that I don’t normally associate with her but that she carries off very well. Kelly is known for her huge vocals but this song is about playing coy and the more subdued approach really works. She purrs out that invitation to slow dance, which is actually her way of rejecting this guy’s advances but she makes it sound so damn good you don’t even notice. The smoky production, which features heavy drums and a suggestive string arrangement, is really pretty and the perfect backdrop for her.

• “Someone To You” by BANNERS from Empires On Fire

The song is built around a simple (but relatable) sentiment that’s almost corny, but BANNERS is wailing his heart out and the music sounds so HUGE that it succeeds through sheer force of will. It’s just such a robust song. Everything about it is perfectly calibrated for maximum impact, from the smooth violin that gives a sense of forward motion to the background shouts that pop in momentarily just to punch up the chorus. Foot stomping, stadium filling guitar driven pop songs are easy to create a facsimile of but hard to master, and BANNERS managed to nail this one to the wall.

• ”Staring At The Sun” by Vanic (ft. Clara Mae)

Both Vanic and the singer bring their A-game and it pays off with a huge EDM banger. It’s a fairly straightforward track that compares looking at someone to staring at the sun, but the music elevates it to a whole new level. I love when the drop in an EDM song actually conveys something, and this hammering drop that seems to tear the world apart really captures how it feels to look at someone you find almost too beautiful to exist. There’s awe in this song, one could say it’s… awesome.

• ”Switch (Tom Swoon Remix)” by Iggy Azalea ft. Anitta

“Switch” is a nice little Latin flavored pop-rap track, but the Tom Swoon remix takes it to another level. He slows the tempo and bulks up the production with trap drums and tropical house beats to give it a bit more muscle, and both Iggy and Anitta sound much better for it. The real treasure is the drop he adds after the chorus, which takes advantage of the additional momentum he adds to give the song more of a climax and extend the already great chorus even longer. This remix just has this huge, heavy energy that I love.

• ”That’s A Man Maury” by Manila Luzon (feat. Willam)

Long before RuPaul’s Drag Race, the most common place to see drag queens on television was on trashy daytime talk shows like Maury or Ricki Lake, which would air segments like “Man or Woman?” Manila Luzon pays tribute to this era in her own unique way: she flips the infamous phrase “that’s a man Maury” around to describe a man who doesn’t care that she’s a drag queen! The relationship that the lyrics describe is full of details that are actually really wholesome, which grounds all the campiness in a genuinely sweet sentiment, and the smooth r&b melody with the sultry (shockingly un-autotuned) vocals actually work really well.

• ”Tokyo” by Truitt (ft. Light House)

This song is expertly assembled: the lyrics describe wanting to run away on an adventure with someone (setting the sleek Tokyo as the destination) and then a bouncy house beat and dreamy synths bring this wanderlust to life. The production is so smooth and clear, it feels like it flows into the ear like cool air, and the vocalist slots into the mix perfectly. I’ve looked into this “Light House” figure and I haven’t been able to find anything on her, which is a shame because I love her voice. She has that light, smooth quality that’s almost Vocaloid-esque, and her performance really takes this song to another level.

• ”Undercover” by Kehlani from SweetSexySavage

This song is built around a slick chorus that builds and builds until it slides right into the next verse, a neat little trick that keeps the song flowing and matches the cheeky lyrics. She describes this story of undercover romance so well it basically feels like reading a frothy little piece of fan fiction, just a frothy string of enticing moments. I especially love the acoustic bridge with its sly lyrics where she teases her lover, it gives another layer to the song’s overall mischievous energy. Kehlani’s ability to craft a catchy hook and then deliver it well always impresses me!

• ”What Do I Tell My Friends?” by Bree Runway (cw: the video depicts sexual harassment)

This song is off-the-wall maximalist, it starts off quiet and low but once that first chorus hits it’s an explosion of noise with rattling drum machines and expertly placed synth pads that just keep upping the ante until the song is over. She serves huge vocals that crackle with energy, her voice sounds kind of tight but I’m into it. There’s also some silly voicemails peppered throughout the track that give it a sense of campy melodrama. It’s a monster of a pop song, Bree has been gaining some traction lately but this should have made her a star back in 2017.

• ”Yours If You Want It” by Rascal Flatts

I don’t know if I can really call this “underrated” because it was a decent country hit and Rascal Flats are huge but it’s a bop and I’ve never seen it mentioned on here. It’s very well written, with a super strong melody and romantic lyrics that make great use of repetition. I find the straightforward, unironic sentiment of it to be very charming, kind of like a Nicholas Sparks movie. I guess sometimes… country good.
Here were the accompanying albums.

Growing up as a fan of Japanese RPG, I always found Final Fantasy as the perfect influence on the genre. I’ve always enjoyed turn-based RPG with good storytelling, and a massive open overworld to explore to. For some reason, it’s JRPG that really got me back to feeling the nostalgia. Dragon Quest XI is the quickest JRPG fix in modern-day JRPG standards.
DQ XI really hits all the right notes for me. At first, looking at this game in stores during the Nintendo 3DS era made me want to avoid this title off the shelves, despite knowing its successful reputation in the JRPG market. I really was not a big fan of how everybody in the Dragon Quest universe looks as if they are character rejects from the Dragon Ball franchise. After all, the characters in both franchises were designed by the same artist… (And so was Chrono Trigger.)
After feeling burned out from playing the newer games on the Switch, JRPG or otherwise, I decided to tease myself by watching gameplay reviews of DQ XI. Lo and behold, this quarantine gave me an opportunity to reconnect with my childhood that once loved the turn-based JRPG genre.
DQ XI is your traditional JRPG as your hero quests to get stronger while his party encounters boss battles found in every dungeon crawl.
The story is very basic and not very complex at all. You play as the Hero, the prophesied Light of the World, whose task is to eradicate darkness and the Lord of the Shadows. It makes up for a pretty shortsighted storyline. The story is as simple as that, and it’s ok not to be more than what it is.
The battle sequence is also very linear. If not, it is a perfect 3D rendition of the earlier DQ titles of the 90s. As compared to the Final Fantasy titles of the early 2000s, where your party is given a special overdrive option, DQ titles are less specific on combat moves, and more reliant on repetition and strategy. For a turn-based RPG, it’s simple, yet effective to keep me entertained for hours and hours on end… and I think the franchise perfectly made it that way.
What really made this game so interesting is how it is well-paced. There are multiple character developments during the Hero’s adventure. The grinding never felt like a grind at all. In fact, it can be more engaging with the sped-up battle option on the Switch to grind through the skill tree. The PS4 version lacks these enhancements and makes grinding feel more like a chore. It was very fun and the next thing I knew, I lost track of time.
The biggest hurdle for me was realizing that the pace had suddenly, in a mere instant, shifted from being a very linear story with clear steps of progression and challenges to a more open-ended affair that has less in common with the previous chapters of the game. DQ XI just made me feel like wanting to live in this world forever… but as one thing ends, though, another begins. That is the way of the world.
I just realized that I ended up loving this game bit by bit and felt so attached to it that I just wanted to explore the world of Erdrea even on the post-game after defeating the final boss.
Dragon Quest XI is just so full of heart and so true to itself. The world of Erdrea is bright and cheery, and even when it gets dark, hope eventually shines through. To a certain extent, it felt like playing a Studio Ghibli game with Dragon Ball character rejects, and there is nothing wrong with that at all.
Casually taking selfies on a mountain cliff in Arboria
For a formal game rating of age 12 and above, DQ XI has a lot of adult innuendos which I find obscene from the eyes of an adult. Roulette and poker are some of the side-games marketed to teenagers who don’t even have the slightest idea of what a casino is like. This is not to forget mentioning that these side-games are part of the lore, to which I spent half of my days playing and being rewarded tokens in exchange for rare items and cool costumes for my party.
There is also another side-game where you talk to certain NPCs across the world of Erdrea and if you are lucky enough to spot them, they will reward you with a Puff-Puff. In Dragon Ball/Dragon Quest lore, a Puff-Puff is essentially the act of a woman massaging another person’s face with her breasts, though the true nature of the act was only ever hinted in the game.
I love it! I loved how Square Enix promotes gambling and sex through its subtlest forms. While I find it funny that life is full of vices, it’s even funnier that art imitates life…. even for teenagers.
It is exactly what my younger self would have wanted to play, and now that child in me is satisfied with the playthrough — of being a hero and embarking on a quest to save the world, meeting friends, getting stronger, and strategizing boss battles through turn-based tactics.
I finished the game within 15 days with a gameplay time of about 100 hours —that means I pretty much traded my body and soul to Square Enix, but it’s okay, it was well worth it anyway!
Playing Dragon Quest XI moved me so much I had to write about it. I was instantly hooked from the characters and how they were always getting stuck in certain situations, some times just silly quests, most of the time end-of-the-world serious. It now has a special place in my memory and I’m just glad I had the chance to play it.
Perhaps I’ll give Dragon Quest VIII a fighting chance for glory.
P.S. Listening to Overture XI from Tokyo Symphonic Suite ALWAYS tears me up.
Read the full review here.

I’ve been rolling this around in my head, trying to find a way to wrap up the sequel trilogy in a better way without changing Episodes 7 & 8 which I enjoyed – and I know I’m the minority, I can accept that. But I think I’ve figured a way to make it work with some minor changes, Episode 7 remains as is, with maybe some dialogue changes to Snore to fit in with his twist later on.
Episode 8 also remains mostly unchanged, Rey and Luke’s training plays out pretty much as it does with a minor addition, during training Rey gets a cut on her arm, Luke uses force heal to help her, explaining that the trick was perfected by Darth Plagueis though the Jedi texts emphasise the use of healing with one’s own strength whereas Sith use power stolen from others to heal themselves.
Finn and Rose storyline is mostly the same, they still go on the casino but this time their contact is confirmed to be Lando who has been making contacts with First Order Generals and sending secure info to Leia. Finn and Rose are still arrested, they still meet up with DJ but this time their escape is helped by Lando who uses his First Order contacts to get them onto Snoke’s ship while he tries to get in contact with Leia (not known that she’s unconscious). From here the film plays out mostly the same, Rey and Kylo kill Snoke, Holdo lightspeeds the First Order, the resistance makes a stand on Crait (Rose still saves Finn but for the sake of not wanting to see another friend die needlessly rather than for love) and Luke trolls Kylo with force projection. Kylo tries to give chase to Rey but is stopped by a voice in his head, a sinister voice telling him to come to Coruscant.
Episode 9 starts proper here, in much the same opening to TROS Kylo lands alone on a planet but this time it’s Coruscant, not as prosperous in its P.T. days but still holding some glory. Kylo enters the Chancellor’s room, finding a secret passage that leads to a room where the barely living remains of Darth Plagueis have been trapped for the last 70 years. His wounds from being killed by Sidious are still present but he has been pulling himself together through the force and gotten to the point where he has been communicating with Kylo for years, pushing him towards the Dark Side. Plagueis tells Kylo that he needs him to find where Rey is and bring her to him. The reasons why aren’t revealed yet but when Kylp exits the chambers he has his Star Destroyers decimate Coruscant and massacres the few remaining Senators.
The Resistance has been hiding out on remote planets, always ready to jump if the First Order gets too close, Lando has become one of the defacto leaders alongside Poe with Leia often in her quarters meditating with the force. Rey meanwhile has returned to Jakku with Finn, Rose and BB8 to talk to Unkar Plutt about her parents, realising that she’s force sensitive now he tells her what Kylo said, her parents were nobodies who sold her as a child and he confirms that they are in fact dead, their ship barely made it off planet before they crash-landed, Unkar took the remains of the ship to try and fix it up and sell it but he buried Rey’s parents before he did.
Suddenly a First Order ship appears in orbit, Unkar offers to distract them allowing the others to escape. TIE Fighters swarm in, blowing up the surrounding areas. Rey and the others make it back to their ship only to find a couple First Order troopers investigating it, one of them shoots at Rey which she reflects back with her lightsaber (a brand new green one) the other takes out a Z6 Baton (what TR-8R used) but Rey instantly uses Force Choke on him, shocking both Finn and Rose. Finn is able to stop Rey from going too far, Rose shoots the trooper and all of them get on the ship, Rey explains that she had no idea what happened, she just saw black and reacted without thinking.
Unkar is brought to General Hux who wants to know where ‘The Girl’ is, he tries to threaten Unkar, slapping him the face but Unkar jokes about how weak he is, in response Hux shoots Unkar in the head, killing him. Hux returns to his ship, he sends a message to Kylp telling him they couldn’t find Rey but that the Resistance base can’t be too far from Jakku, Kylo tells him to make his way to Coruscant which Hux agrees to but tells one of his soldiers they’re going to find the resistance first.
Finn sends word to Poe that the First Order found them and to get moving, meanwhile Rey uses the force to commune with Luke’s ghost, asking him why Force Choke came so easily to her. Luke theorises that she’s picked something up in the Jedi texts but is uneased by how quickly she took to it. Suddenly Luke senses something horrible, he’s only able to get out one word; ‘Leia’.
By the time that Rey, Finn and Rose arrive most of the resistance has evacuated with only Poe, Lando and Leia left, as they’re getting onto the ship the First Order Star Destroyers arrive in orbit, Finn, Poe and Rose go to distract the first wave, Rey tries to join them but gets distracted by Kylo forcing a Force-Bond between them. He tries to taunt her, saying that he knows her purpose in the universe, even name-dropping Plagueis before he sees, from Rey’s side, Leia coming into view just as a First Order destroyer fires a blast towards the resistance base. Kylo breaks the connection but not before seeing his own mother blown up and killed. The loss of Leia hits them all hard and the last resistance leaders make their escape, Hux remains smug about the operation and considers it a success.
The resistance lands on the ruins of Naboo, one of the first planets hit by the First Order, now just desolate and abandoned, with Leia dead and their numbers even lower several members are now question what the point of everything is, in the year since Luke’s death they’ve barely dealt any damage to the First Order. Poe and Lando try to hold everyone together but it’s clear morale is exceptionally low. Rey searches the Jedi texts for word on Plageuis, only finding rumours that Sidious killed him on Coruscant and hid his body away but nothing concrete, she communes with Luke who is too distracted by his sister’s death to help. With the First Order blocking everything on and off Coruscant they have little chance of making it on-planet but Poe has the idea of contacting his criminal friend Zorii Bliss who could forge them the right First Order credentials to get them passed the blockade. Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose, Chewie and BB-8 plan to find Zorii whilst Lando will hold together what remains of the resistance and find splinter cells in order to prepare a final assault over Coruscant.
Hux lands on Coruscant, boasting to Kylo about a devastating blow to the resistance but not outright admitting the Leia’s death, Kylo also doesn’t let on that he’s aware Hux killed his mother, instead offering to show him what he’s found. He takes Hux to see Plagueis, and Hux is taken completely off-guard by his similar appearance to Snoke, Plagueis explains that he created Snoke, used him as a puppet to build the First Order, partly as means of building an army for his return, but mostly to basterdise Palpatine’s empire by creating chaos in the Galaxy. Kylo then uses the Force to break Hux’s leg, having him kneel in front of Plagueis who steals Hux’s life-force, killing him, it’s not a lot but it’s enough to give Plagueis enough power to take his first steps in decades.
Rey and the others make it to Kijimi and find Zorii, but to the shock of Finn and Rose they discover that Zorii is married to DJ, Finn automatically snaps and tries to attack DJ but Poe and Chewie stop him, once the truth comes out DJ explains that it was strictly business and Poe tells him that what they need is too important to let grudges stop them. Finn and Rose reluctantly agree and Zorii agrees to forge First Order documents, whilst doing so DJ contacts the First Order.
Rose finds it difficult to be in the same house as DJ and leaves with Finn, she admits to seeing DJ again has triggered a minor case of PTSD from almost being executed and she’s struggling to deal with it. Finn tries to comfort her but both their fears are realised when they see First Order ships arriving, they realise that DJ has betrayed them again, Zorii is furious and offers to help Poe get off-world, when DJ tries to stop them Rose shoots him in the leg. As Zorii leads the others to safety, Rey senses the arrival of Kylo and goes to face him, giving the others a chance to escape, Chewie goes with her since he can prepare a ship for when it’s time to leave.
Kylo lands on the outskirts of the city, close to a forest area very similar to where he and Rey had their first fight. Kylo keeps trying to taunt her about knowing her connection to Plagueis but Rey tries to break through to Ben Solo, seeing though his act as showboating so as not to accept the death of his parents. They get into a duel with Kylo noting her new lightsaber following the destruction of Anakin’s, as they fight Kylo realises that Rey has improved in her skills, that combined with her constantly trying to appeal to Ben Solo infuriates Kylo and he goes berserk on her, yelling about how she’s a nobody and asking what’s so important about her. As Kylo swings madly at her Rey’s defensive instincts kick in and she uses Force Lightning to send Kylo flying backwards, he’s knocked unconscious by a tree but Rey is so terrified by the lightning that she runs back to Chewie’s ship and escapes Kijimi. DJ tries to talk to a First Order general about his pay for the tip but instead he’s executed for his troubles.
Reuniting with the others, Rey takes a room to herself to talk to Luke about what’s happened, Luke suggests that Rey’s natural ability tap into both the light and dark side of the force could be her unknowingly adopting what is known as the Grey Code, something only theorised before but never seen in practise. Rey figures out why Plageuis wants her, realising that being close to her will put her friends at risk she secretly takes the ship she and Chewie stole and runs away.
On Kijimi, Kylo wakes up to the sight of the city burning, he’s surprisingly upset at the sight, and that’s when he hears the voice behind him. The Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker (played by Hayden Christensen) appears and tells Kylo that what Rey has been telling him is right, that he’s acting up to hide the pain of killing Han and losing Leia, Anakin knows this because he has been the call to the light that Kylo has been hearing ever since Plagueis got his claws into Ben Solo. They argue over Anakin’s legacy as Vader and his redemption after killing Palpatine with Anakin saying it’s not too late for Ben to be saved, as Anakin leaves Kylo looks at his lightsaber, leaving it ambiguous what he’s thinking, he then gets back onto his ship and returns to Coruscant
Rey’s ship approaches Coruscant where she radios down requesting to see Ben Solo, Kylo hasn’t returned yet but they allow her to land, taking Rey prisoner in the remnants of the city. As mockery the First Order generals take her to the Jedi Temple, now a derelict tomb, Rey hears voices of dead jedi but is stops when she hears the screaming of Order 66. Not far behind her, Poe, Finn, Rose, Chewie, BB-8 and Zorii use the forged documents to make their way through the blockade, they know Rey is on planet so they split into two teams, Finn, Rose and Chewie will find Rey while Poe, Zorii and BB-8 will hack a transmission tower to allow the resistance fleet to take the blockade by surprise.
Kylo lands on Coruscant, he’s admittedly surprised to see Rey but takes her to see Plagueis nonetheless, inside the Chancellor’s chambers where Plagueis has now taken residence in Rey reveals that Plagueis wants her for her power, that her natural ability to feel both the light and the dark makes her special but she doesn’t know why. At this Plagueis tells her that there isn’t a reason why, and that’s why he missed her, he felt her power coursing through the galaxy but couldn’t find where it was coming from, naturally he thought it was from the lineage of Skywalker and took to corrupting Ben Solo, but it wasn’t until Rey’s power was tapped that he realised he found the wrong Force User, to him Kylo Ren is nothing but a mistake that’s taken 2 decades to fix. Plagueis then asks Rey why she came, she tells him that she’s willing to die to keep her friends safe, but Plagueis laughs at her, telling her that she’s not going to die just yet. He then uses the Force to steal Rey’s power, completely healing himself but keeping Rey alive, with Rey lifted off the ground behind him, screaming in agony, Plagueis marches outside.
Finn, Rose and Chewie track Rey’s movements to the Jedi Temple but lose her once they’re inside, they find the Council Room and are shocked to see Luke’s ghost inside, he explains the Council Room is a great source of Force Power allowing him to speak to them despite not being Force Sensitive. Luke tells them that Plagueis has Rey and is essentially using her as a battery, with Rey’s natural power he can overpower himself and complete his goal of immortality to throw the galaxy back into the rule of the Sith, things seems hopeless but Luke tells them there is a very risky plan to stop him.
Poe, Zorii and BB-8 make their way to the transmission tower, they hack into it easily enough to communicate with Lando who tells them he’s gathered enough support to give them a fighting chance, spurred on Poe and Zorii start taking down the security measures. But before they can they are found by some troopers, they manage to kill them but not before an alarm is sounded, the three of them are pinned down by enemy fire and can’t get to the controls for long enough to hack them, Poe is even shot in the leg and badly wounded. Poe then has an idea and tells BB-8 to find a specialist piece of equipment, but as BB-8 leaves Zorii wonders why Poe wants something that realistically can’t help them, Poe says its because he’s going to blow up the tower and doesn’t want BB-8 to be trapped with him, he offers Zorii a chance of escape with him covering her but she refuses, claiming that she missed a life with him, she wasn’t missing anything else. Poe tells Lando to make it count, kisses Zorii and sets off the explosions, taking out the transmission tower and allowing the Resistance Fleet to bypass the blockade.
While Resistance fighters make their landings on one side of the city, Plagueis marches with his First Order battalion (mirroring Anakin during Order 66) with a still screaming Rey carried by the force behind him and Kylo Ren by his side who is noticeably uncomfortable with the screaming. The battle between the Resistance and First Order troopers is hard-fought but Plagueis makes things even harder with him easily grabbing Resistance ships out of the air and crushing them with the force, he’s even able to heal instantly with any shot against him barely leaving a mark – Rey meanwhile has several old scars reopen, including the one she got training with Luke - Lando keeps morale up by calling in as much support as they can muster but it’s clearly a losing fight.
Suddenly everything stops as Finn walks out alone in the middle of the battlefield, he instantly starts calling Plagueis out, calling him a lonely coward, hiding away and letting other people do his dirty work, too weak to do anything but hurt a girl. As he’s talking Finn keeps stepping closer and closer to Plagueis, he then tells Plagueis that the biggest problem with Siths is that they always want an audience, on that cue Rose and Chewie starts firing Bowcaster bolts at Plagueis, distracting him long enough for Rey to drop and for Finn to use the distraction to pick her up and carry her to safety. With Rey safe the Resistance starts their attack again, forcing Plagueis to use Kylo’s lightsaber to protect himself, he gives Kylo Rey’s lightsaber and tells to forward the attack while he finds Rey.
Rose and Chewie arrive to help Finn carry the weakened Rey but they are quickly found by Plagueis who Force-Throws the others away and lifts Rey, stealing her power again. He taunts her, saying that he turned a Skywalker, what chance does a nobody have? And at that moment, Plagueis is stabbed from behind by a green lightsaber, Kylo stands behind him, saying that he is the lineage of Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi like his family before him, before decapitating Plagueis with one swing.
At that moment, all the power that Plagueis had stolen from Rey explodes back into her all at once and – for lack of a better term – she goes super saiyan, she grabs Kylo’s lightsaber from Plagueis’s dead body and eviscerates the First Order soldiers without trouble, effortlessly carving through them all as the Force pulses through her. She turns round but is stopped by Kylo, he’s weakened from the explosion, his right arm has been ripped off but he’s still holding onto her lightsaber and stops her from going too far. Rey calms down and powers down the lightsaber, Kylo does the same, smiles at her and falls unconscious.
With Plagueis defeated, the battle of Corusscant won and the Sith stopped once more the remaining Resistance members mourn their dead with Finn giving a eulogy for Poe. Ben Solo is taken to a med-bay for his missing arm but once healed enough he’s brought before the Resistance Leaders (including Lando and Ackbar because he should’ve survived) to answer for his crimes. Rey makes an appeal on Ben’s behalf, saying that he should be punished but not with death, instead he should be exiled and she has an idea where. Before he’s taken away, Finn asks Ben for information on where the First Order took children from, him and Rose want to find the families and put them at ease.
Rey and BB-8 take Ben to his exile planet, he hasn’t been told where yet but once he sees the swamp he realises what she’s done. Rey lands on Dagobah just outside Yoda’s old home, from there the ghosts of Yoda, Anakin Skywalker and Leia can be seen waiting for Ben to arrive, ready to teach him the ways of the Jedi. Ben thanks Rey for the 2nd chance to which she replies that everyone deserves redemption. As Ben leaves Rey is approached by Luke’s ghost who asks what Rey is going to do now that she’s finished, she tells him she doesn’t know, but for the first time in her life she’s happy with that. Rey and BB-8 get back into the ship, leaving Dagobah and flying into their next adventure.
*
I know this isn’t perfect, I couldn’t find a place for R2 and C3PO, Plagueis living might be just as silly as Palpatine and I hit on a few too many notes of nostalgia. But I wanted to see if I could fix Episode 9 without harming TFA or TLJ too much because I was invested in the sequel trilogy and was disappointed by how it all ended so lacklustre.
This is my first attempt at fixing a movie so I’ll take all criticism and I’ll try to explain anything that I’ve not made clear enough.

Images: https://imgur.com/a/EX65PhF
Most of the manga are in the grade range of G2-G4. Some of the manga have parenthetical notes about their condition and are generally in G1-G3 condition. Ex-library manga are automatically G1 regardless of their condition. I'm selling these manga cheaply enough that I don't want to answer 20 questions about each book.
I also have a small amount of anime available for the same price. Anime are either new in shrinkwrap or used but tested. Each one is subtitled or dubbed in English. Some of them are numbered, while others aren't. I include the episode numbers when I think it will clarify things.
18+ manga (either non-yaoi or yaoi) is separated from the rest of the manga.
After we agree to what you're buying in the thread, I'll need you to PM me your email address. Then I'll send you a paypal invoice.
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Pricing:

1. Manga/anime cost $2.75 each.
   
2. If you buy 5 or fewer manga, you must pay an additional $3.50 for shipping and handling.
   
3. If you buy 6 or more manga, I will waive the shipping fee. As long as supplies last, I will add a free bonus manga sampler or graphic novel sampler.
   
4. No international shipping.
   
5. If you live in Pennsylvania, please tell me in your PM. I have to charge 7% sales tax. Because I live in Allegheny County, it's 7% regardless of which part of Pennsylvania you live in.
   

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* Starred manga are larger than normal, which matters if your shelves only have so much space. Smaller manga are NOT starred.
​
Anime:
Akihabara Geeks
Alien Nine Collector's Series
Angel Sanctuary Enhanced Edition
Angelic Layer: 1 [episodes 1-4]
Arc the Lad: 5 [episodes 17-21]
Armored Trooper VOTOMS [episodes 14-27]
Aura Battler Dunbine: 7 [episodes 26-29]
Bakugan Battle Brawlers: 1 [episodes 1-5]
Basilisk: 2 [episodes 5-8] (The box is kind of slanted.), 3 [episodes 9-12], 6 [episodes 21-24]
Beck Mongolian Chop Squad: 1 [episodes 1-5], 3 [episodes 11-14], 4 [episodes 15-18]
Black Jack episode 8
Casino Warrior Zero: 2 [episodes 5-8]
Corrector Yui [episodes 11-14]
Cyber City episode 2
Dangaizer 3: 1
DNA: 2 [episodes 4-6]
Ex-Driver: 1
Fairy Reins
Fight!! Spirit of the Sword
Final Fantasy Unlimited: 1 [episodes 1-4]
Fleet of Doom [Voltron movie]
Fruits Basket: 1 [episodes 1-6]
Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid: 2 [episodes 5-7], 4 [episodes 11-13]
Geneshaft: 1 [episodes 1-4]
Getter Robo Armageddon: Transfiguration
Godannar!!: 6 [episodes 21-23]
Grappler Baki The Ultimate Fighter
Green Green: 1 [episodes 1-4]
Grenadier: 1 [episodes 1-4]
Hades Project Zeorymer Extinction
Hammerboy Collector's Series
His and Her Circumstances: 4 [episodes 17-21]
Huntik: 1 [episodes 1-7]
I Shall Never Return
I'll/CKBC Crazy Kouzu Basketball Club [episodes 1-2]
Idol Project: 1 [episodes 1-2], 2 [episodes 3-4]
Initial D: 2 [episodes 4-6]
Jubei-Chan The Ninja Girl The Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch Complete Series
Judge
Kodocha: 11 [episodes 41-44]
Madara
Magical Witch Punie-Chan
Mirage of Blaze: 1 [episodes 1-4]
Mushi-Shi The Movie [live action]
Noir: 1 [episodes 1-5]
Now and Then, Here and There: Bonus Disc
Oh My Goddess: 4 [episodes 15-18], 5 [episodes 19-22]
Onimusha Dawn of Dreams
Orphen: 5 [episodes 15-19]
Otogi Zoshi: 1 [episodes 1-5]
Peach Girl: 1 [episodes 1-5], 6 [episodes 22-25]
Queen's Blade: 2 [episodes 5-8, OVA episodes 3-4]
Rahxephon: 2
Rave Master: 2 [episodes 3-5]
Revolutionary Girl Utena: 3 [episodes 14-17], 5 [episodes 21-23], 8 [episodes 31-33] (medium rip in slip cover)
Robotech: 14 [episodes 80-85]
Sakura Wars The Movie
Samurai 7: 4 [episodes 13-16], 7 [episodes 24-26]
Samurai Jack The Premiere Movie
School Rumble: 6 [episodes 23-26]
Sentimental Journey [complete series, 2 dvds]
Seven of Seven: 1 [episodes 1-5], 2 [episodes 6-11]
Shadow Star Narutaru: 1 [episodes 1-4]
Shuffle!: 6 [episodes 21-24]
Slam Dunk: 3 [episodes 11-15]
SoltyRei: 1 [episodes 1-6]
The Boy Who Wanted to be a Bear
The Goku Sen: 1 [episodes 1-5]
The Twelve Kingdoms: 2, 6
The Weathering Continent (warped front matter)
Trinity Blood: 2 [episodes 5-8], 3 [episodes 9-12]
Tsubasa: 3 [episodes 11-14], 5 [episodes 19-22], 6 [episodes 23-26], 9 [episodes 37-40]
URDA The Third Reich
Witchblade: 4
Ys: 2
Zone of the Enders Dolores, i: 4
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18+ Manga: (non-yaoi; a couple are 16+, but in series that are usually 18+)
7th Garden: 6
Astral Project: 1
Battle Vixens: 1 (small rip)
Between The Sheets
Blade of the Immortal: 1*
Blood Sucker: 2, 4 (moderate shelfwear)
Blood the Last Vampire 2002* [one shot] (2: 1 with several small creases, 1 slightly bent at spine)
Category Freaks: 1 (2 copies, 1 pretty scuffed up)
Death At Death's Door: 1 (2 copies)
Dogs Prelude: 0*
Doll: 1 (hardback, moderate wear on slip cover), 3 (a couple small creases)
Flowers & Bees: 2
Happy Mania: 5, 8 (2 copies)
Hey Princess (small rip, spine stress)
High School of the Dead: 1
Jormungand: 4* (a page is ripped and creased)
Kami-kaze: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 3 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, a couple small rips), 4
Kannazuki No Miko: 1
Kikaider 02: 4
King of Wolves [one shot]
Maico 2010: 1 (2 copies, 1 with small rip), 4
Omamori Himari: 1, 4
Ooku The Inner Chambers: 5 (ex-library, dirty)
Orfina: 1*
Remote: 2, 3 (2 copies), 4 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Sacred: 1
Samurai Harem Asu No Yoichi: 2
Sensual Phrase: 1-2
Steel Angel Kurumi: 1 (plastic peeling at edges of covers, tiny stain)
Strawberry 100%: 9
Sword of the Dark Ones: 1
Sword's Edge: 1* (severe shelfwear, small stain, tiny stain, small rip)
Testarotho: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 4
The Dead Boy Detectives
The Young Magician: 1 (2 copies, 1 with slight-to-moderate yellowing), 3
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World: 2 (moderate shelfwear, several creases)
Tokko: 1 (moderate shelfwear, medium stain, slightly warped at 1 corner, creases/rips on spine, several small creases)
Tokyo Zombie*
Triage X: 1 (a couple large creases, small hole)
Warriors of Tao: 1 (2 copies, 1 slightly dirty)
Welcome to the N.H.K.: 2 (small stain, slightly warped at front of book, a couple small creases)
Yubisaki Milk Tea: 1 (slightly bent)
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18+ Manga: (yaoi)
A Foreign Love Affair [one shot]
Alcohol, Shirt & Kiss* [one shot]
Barefoot Waltz* [one shot]
Because I'm a Boy [one shot]
Black Knight: 2 (moderate shelfwear)
...but, I'm Your Teacher [one shot]
Crazy Star* [one shot] (slightly bent)
Croquis [one shot] (sticker residue)
Dark Prince: 3
Delivery Cupid [one shot] (large crease)
Don't Be Cruel: 8
Don't Rush Love [one shot]
Don't Say Any More, Darling [one shot]
Duetto* [one shot]
Gerard & Jacques: 1 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear), 2 (moderate shelfwear)
Hanky Panky [one shot]
Hero Heel: 1* (2 copies)
I Can't Stop Loving You: 1-2
Invisible Love* [one shot]
J-Boy: 1*
June Pride [one shot] (moderate shelfwear, slightly dirty)
Junior Escort* [one shot]
Just My Luck [one shot] (slightly dirty)
Kashinfu* [one shot]
Kiss All the Boys: 1 (multiple creases)
Little Butterfly: 2*
Love Circumstances [one shot]
Love Code* [one shot] (some browning on inside covers)
Love Pistols: 1
Lovers in the Night [one shot] (several small creases)
Loving Gaze* [one shot]
Man's Best Friend [one shot]
Meeting You [one shot]
Melted Love* [one shot]
My Paranoid Next Door Neighbor [one shot]
Our Kingdom*: 5
Passion: 1*, 2*, 3*
Pet on Duty [one shot]
Picnic* [one shot]
Poison Cherry Drive [one shot] (slightly bent)
Sensitive Pornograph* [one shot]
Shining Moon* [one shot] (slight browning on inside covers)
Shinobu Kokoro [one shot]
Skyscrapers of Oz [one shot]
The Art of Loving: 1* (2 copies, 1 with tiny stain and a few wrinkles, 1 slightly warped)
The Crimson Spell: 1
The Devil's Secret [one shot]
The Moon and the Sandals: 1*, 2*
The Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy [one shot]
The Sky Over My Spectacles [one shot]
The World's Greatest Love: 2 (slightly warped)
Thunderbolt Boys: 1
Truly Kindly [one shot] (moderate shelfwear, small rip/crease)
Waru* [one shot]
Wild Rock [one shot] (small rip)
Yaoi An Anthology of Boys Love Stories: 2
Yellow: 1* (slightly bent, moderate yellowing, slightly dirty)
Yokan: 1, 2 (slight browning on inside covers)
You Will Fall in Love [one shot] (small rip)
​
Regular Manga:
+Anima: 1 (medium crease, some writing), 2 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear, small rip), 3
07-Ghost: 1, 2 (ex-library, peeling plastic), 3-4, 6
10, 20, and 30: 1
13th Boy: 2* (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
20th Century Boys: 4* (ex-library, somewhat dirty), 5* (ex-library, slightly dirty)
7 Billion Needles: 1 (slightly bent at spine)
9th Sleep* [one shot]
u/Large: 2
A Little Snow Fairy Sugar: 2
A Midnight Opera: 1 (significant shelwear, medium rip), 2 (significant shelfwear)
A Perfect Day for Love Letters: 1
A Wise Man Sleeps: 2 (small rip)
Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade: 2
Absolute Boyfriend: 1-3
AI Love You: 1, 2 (medium crease), 3 (medium crease), 4 (moderate shelfwear), 5 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 7 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
AI Revolution: 1
AI Yori Aoshi: 1, 2 (medium crease), 3-4
Aion: 1, 3
Airgear: 1 (moderate yellowing at edges of pages)
Aishiteruze Baby: 4
Alice 19th: 1-3, 5 (slightly bent), 6-7
Alice in the Country of Hearts: 1 (moderate shelfwear, several small creases), 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, several tiny creases), 3
Alice on Deadlines: 1
Alichino: 1-3
Alien Nine: 1
Alive: 3 (ex-library)
Amazing Agent Luna: 1-2
Amnesia Labyrinth: 1
Amulet: 1*
Angel Cup: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 4 (moderate shelfwear)
Angel Diary: 4* (large crease), 6* (several small creases)
Angel Sanctuary: 1, 2 (back cover is scraped up), 3
Angel/Dust* [one shot]
Angel/Dust Neo* [one shot] (moderate shelfwear)
Angelboy: 1*
Angelic Layer: 1 (several small creases), 2, 4 (faded spine, moderate shelfwear)
Ani-lmo: 1, 5
Anne Freaks: 1-2, 4 (medium-to-large crease)
Antique Bakery: 1*, 3* (significant shelfwear, multiple creases, small stain, small rip)
Aoi House: 1
Aoi House in Love: 1 (some yellowing of inside cover), 2 (some yellowing of inside cover)
Aquarian Age Juvenile Orion: 1-3, 5
Arana The Heart of the Spider: 1
Arata the Legend: 5 (ex-library)
Arcana: 2
Archlord: 1 (ex-library)
Are You Alice?: 1 (ex-library, wavy, dirty, small rip, significant shelfwear)
Aria: 1
Aria: 2
Arisa: 1 (pretty creased up covers)
Ark Angels: 1-2
Armageddon: 1-2
Aron's Absurd Armada: 1* (moderate-to-significant shelfwear, small rip)
Arpeggio of Blue Steel: 1
Artemis Fowl [one shot]*
Assembly [one shot]
Astro Boy: 1 (moderate shelfwear, slight-to-moderate yellowing, several small creases, plastic peeling at edges of covers), 9 (moderate yellowing, medium crease)
Attack on Titan: 1, 13 (small-to-medium crease)
Avalon Hill Coronation: 1, 2, 3 (creases in both covers)
Avatar the Last Airbender: The Promise Part 2*
Avatar the Last Airbender Cine-manga: 1
Aventura: 1 (ex-library), 3
Azumanga Daioh: 1*
Baby Birth: 1-2
Babymouse: 12* (bent)
Backstage Prince: 1-2
Bad Kitty: 1
Bakegyamon: 4 (slightly bent), 5 (slightly bent)
Ballad of a Shinigami: 1
Bamboo Blade: 1-3, 6
Banya the Explosive Delivery Man: 2 (spine stress)
Battle Girlz: 2
B.B. Explosion: 4
Beast Master: 1
Beauty is the Best: 4 (ex-library), 5 (ex-library)
Beauty Pop: 2
Because I'm the Goddess: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 3
Beet: 3 (several creases, tiny stain), 4 (medium rip, medium crease), 5 (bent at spine, multiple creases, couple small rips, back cover bent)
Beyblade: 2 (several small creases)
Beyond the Beyond: 1-2
Bird Kiss: 2, 3 (moderate shelfwear), 4
Bizenghast: 1-3
Bizenghast The Novel
Black Beauty* (ex-library?)
Black Bird: 1-2
Black Cat: 1 (a little plastic peeling at the edges of the covers), 2-3, 4 (writing/coloring, small-to-medium crease), 5 (medium crease, multiple small creases, 2 small rips), 18, 19
Black Sun Silver Moon: 1, 4
Blade of Heaven: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, several small creases, small rip)
Blame: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, several tiny creases, small rip)
Blank: 1 (spine stress)
Blank Slate: 1 (slight browning on inside covers)
Bleach: 1 (tiny stain), 2 (several small creases), 4 (small crease, medium gouge), 5 (slight-to-moderate yellowing), 6, 7 (a few creases), 8 (slightly bent at spine, medium crease), 10-11, 14, 16, 19 (a couple creases), 20, 36 (ex-library, small stain, medium crease)
Blood Alone: 2, 3 (piece of tape or something in the middle of the book)
Bloody Kiss: 2
Bloody Monday: 3 (ex-library, large crease), 5 (ex-library)
Blue Exorcist: 1-2
Blue Inferior: 1
Blue Monday: The Kids Are Alright*
BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo [one shot] (moderate shelfwear, slight-to-moderate yellowing)
B.O.D.Y.: 2 (small rip)
Bogle: 1-2
Bombos Vs. Everything: 1
Bone: 1* (slightly bent at spine), 2*, 5* (slightly bent at spine, small rip)
Bound Beauty: 2 (ex-library, significant shelfwear)
Bow Wow Wata: 1
Boy Princess: 9
Boys Be: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2-3
Boys of Summer: 1 (moderate shelfwear)
Brain Powered: 1 (several small creases), 3 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear)
Bran Doll [one shot]
Brave* (stained at bottom of book, several creases)
Bride of the Water God: 1*
Brigadoon: 1 (moderate shelfwear, several creases), 2 (ex-library)
Bring it On!: 2*, 4*
Broken Angels: 1-2, 4 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear)
Burst Angel: 2
Bus Gamer 1999-2001 The Pilot Edition (moderate shelfwear)
Buso Renkin: 1 (several creases, gouges, and the subscription card is cut out), 2 -3
Butterfly: 1
By the Sword: 1-2
Cactus's Secret: 1
Cafe Latte Rhapsody [one shot] (some plastic peeling at edges of covers)
Cafe Occult: 1-2
Calling You: 1 (medium cut through back cover and several pages)
Camp Midnight*
Can't Lose You: 1
Cantarella: 1
Captain Nemo: 1
Captive Hearts: 1 (bent), 2, 4 (small dent, medium crease), 5
Cardboard*
Cardcaptor Sakura: 1 (ex-library), 3 [pocket edition], 5
Cardcaptor Sakura Master of the Clow: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2 (significant shelfwear, large crease, and 2 medium creases), 3, 6 (multiple creases, small dent)
Cardcaptors [cine-manga]: 6
Cardfight!! Vanguard: 2, 6 (last page stuck to back cover)
Case Closed: 1, 13 [hardback] (ex-library), 31 (ex-library, a couple small rips), 49 (ex-library)
Castle of Dreams [anthology] (moderate shelfwear, a couple small rips, slightly dirty)
Cat Paradise: 2 (light spine stress), 4 (small rip)
Central City: 1* (moderate shelfwear)
Ceres Celestial Legend: 1, 2 (2 small rips), 3, 4* (medium-to-large crease), 5-6
Cheeky Angel: 1-2, 5 (some creasing in back cover)
Cherry Juice: 3 (several creases)
Chibi Vampire: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 3 (moderate shelfwear), 6 (significant shelfwear), 12 (significant shelfwear, 2 small rips, slightly dirty)
Chobits: 1, 2 (light spine stress, a couple small creases, a few gouges), 3-5
Chronicles of the Cursed Sword: 1-2, 3, 5 (slightly bent), 6-13, 14 (small rip), 15
Chrono Crusade: 1, 7
Chunchu The Genocide Fiend: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2 (significant shelfwear)
Cirque Du Freak: 1 [Special Scholastic Edition], 8 (ex-library)
Clamp School Defenders Duklyon: 1 (medium stain)
Clamp School Detectives: 1 (several tiny creases, plastic starting to peel at edges of covers)
Clan of the Nakagamis*
Clay: 1
Claymore: 1 (ex-library)
Clean-Freak Fully Equipped: 1
Click: 1
Club 9: 1* (creases, slightly dirty)
Code Breaker: 2
Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion: 1
Cold Mountain*
Colosseum: 1* (moderate shelfwear)
Comic: 4* (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Comic Party: 1, 4
Comic Party Another Round: 2 (slightly bent)
Comic Party Party Time: 1
Complex Age: 1* (small rip, small wrinkles in spine)
Confessions of a Blabbermouth* (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Confidential Confessions: 1 (plastic peeling at edges of covers)
Confidential Confessions Deal: 1
Corrector Yui: 1
Countdown 7 Days: 1
Courtney Crumrin: 1*
Cowboy Bebop: 1 (moderate shelfwear, tiny stain)
Cowboy Bebop Shooting Star: 1
Crazy Love Story: 4 (ex-library, significant shelfwear, creases)
Crescent Moon: 1 (significant wear, creases, and rips), 2 (moderate shelfwear), 5 (small rip)
Crimson Hero: 3
Croquis Pop: 4 (ex-library)
Cross: 1
Cross Break: 1 (moderate shelfwear)
Crossroad: 3, 6
Crown: 1, 2 (slightly bent)
Culdcept: 1, 2 (rip/dent in the bottom of the book), 3-4
Cy-Believers: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 3
D. Gray-Man: 1 (slightly bent at spine, several small gouges, several small creases), 2 (small rip), 10
Daemonium: 1
Daniel X: 1* (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Dark Angel: 1 (creases in covers), 3
Dark Edge: 8
Dark Goodbye: 1 (couple small creases)
Dark Metro: 1 (small rip)
Dark Moon Diary: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Dawn of the Arcana: 5 (ex-library), 11 (ex-library)
Dazzle: 1-3, 6 (2 medium creases)
Dead End: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, small rip), 2 (moderate shelfwear, small rip)
Deadman Wonderland: 1
Dear Myself* [one shot]
DearS: 1 (small rip), 2, 4
Death Jam: 1, 2 (moderate shelfwear, 2 large stains, slightly warped at back of book), 3
Death Note: 1
Degrassi the Next Generation Extra Credit: 3-4
Delicious Seasons: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Deltora Quest: 6 (large crease)
Demon City Shinjuku: 1
Demon Diary: 1-3, 4 (moderate shelfwear), 5, 6 (wrinkles in spine)
Demon Flowers: 3
Demon Love Spell: 1, 6
Demon Sacred: 1 (small rip), 2
Deogratias*
Descendants of Darkness: 4
Desert Coral: 1-2
Destiny's Hand: 1
Detective Jermain: 1 (ex-library, slightly bent)
Deus Vitae: 1-2
Devil Survivor: 1 (ex-library, several creases), 2
Devil's Bride: 1
Devils and Realist: 1-2
Di Gi Charat: 1-2, 3 (gray line on cover)
Di Gi Charat Theater Leave it to Piyoko: 1
Digiko's Champion Cup Theater (smudges/fading on back cover)
Dimension W: 1, 5, 7
Disgaea 2: 1
Disney Fairies: Vidia and the Fairy Crown (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Divine Melody: 1* (very bent, slightly dirty)
DNAgents: 1*
DNAngel: 1-3, 4 (ex-library, significant shelfwear), 5-6, 10-11
Do Whatever You Want: 2
Dobeki Bride: 5
Dogby Walks Alone: 1
Dojin Work: 1
Dokkoida?:: 1
Dolls: 1
Doubt!!: 1 (wrinkled plastic), 2, 4
Dragon Ball: 4
Dragon Ball Z: 1 (a few small rips), 2 (small stain, a couple small creases)
Dragon Drive: 1
Dragon Eye: 4
Dragon Hunter: 1-5
Dragon Knights: 1-7
Dragon Voice: 1
Dramacon: 1-3
Dream Gold Knights in the Dark City: 1
Dream Saga: 3 (significant shelfwear, many creases, 2 small rips)
DVD: 1 (small rip, dent, and crease in front cover), 2
E's: 1-3, 4 (2 medium-to-large creases, 2 small rips)
Earthlight: 1 (ex-library, moderate shelfwear)
East Coast Rising: 1
Eensy Weensy Monster: 1 (moderate shelfwear)
Eerie Queerie: 1-2, 3 (ex-library)
El Deafo* (small rip)
Element Line: 1-2, 4
Elemental Gelade: 1 (moderate shelfwear, some writing), 8
Elf Quest The Grand Quest: 1, 5 (ex-library, small stain, peeling plastic, creases), 6
Emma: 3 (ex-library, moderate yellowing, small rip), 5 (ex-library, medium and 2 small stains)
Emperor's Castle: 1
Enchanter: 1*, 2*
Enmusu: 1
ES Eternal Sabbath: 1, 3
Et Cetera: 1-5
Eureka Seven: 1 (slightly dirty), 5 (slightly dirty)
Evil's Return: 1-2
Evyione Ocean Fantasy: 1* (slightly bent)
Excel Saga: 1 (tape on corners of covers), 2-3, 4 (small-to-medium crease)
Eyeshield 21: 6 (slight-to-moderate yellowing), 11 (major crease), 18 (medium stain, slightly warped), 19 (tiny rip)
Faeries' Landing: 1, 2 (light-to-moderate shelfewear), 5-7
Fairy Cube: 1 (many dog-eared pages), 3
Fairy Navigator Runa: 1 (ex-library, slight browning on inside covers, slightly dirty)
Fairy Tail: 1 (large crease), 52 (ex-library, moderate shelfwear, creases)
Fake: 3, 4 (laminated covers), 6
Fall in Love Like a Comic: 1 (slight yellowing on inside covers), 2 (slight yellowing on inside covers)
Figure 17: 1 (ex-library), 2
Final Fantasy Type-0 [Loot Crate Exclusive]
Final Fantasy Type-0 Side Story The Ice Reaper: 1
Firefighter! Diego of Fire Company M: 10, 14
First Love Monster: 7
Flame of Recca: 1 (a couple small rips), 2
FLCL: 1 (slightly dirty, a couple tiny creases), 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Flock of Angels: 1 (small dent in spine)
Flower of the Deep Sleep: 1 (noticeable spine stress), 2
Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll: 2, 4
Fool's Gold: 1
Forbidden Dance: 1-3
Forbidden Scrollery: 1*
Forget About Love: 1
Formera: 1* (ex-library, bent at spine, several creases, several small rips)
Four-Eyed Prince: 2
Foxy Lady: 1
Freak Legend of the Nonblondes: 1
Free Collars Kingdom: 1
Free Runners: 1 (slight browning on inside covers)
From Far Away: 2 (spine stress)
Fruits Basket:1 (slightly bent at spine), 2 (slightly bent at spine), 4 (slightly warped at back of book, moderate shelfwear, medium crease), 6, 9
Fubar: 6*
Fujoshi Rumi: 1
Full House: 3
Full Metal Panic Overload: 1 (plastic starting to peel on front cover), 3, 5
Full Metal Panic!: 1 (moderate yellowing, small stain, dirty, a little plastic peeling on covers)
Full Moon: 1
Fullmetal Alchemist: 1 (plastic peeling at edges of covers), 2, 4 (several creases), 5 (large crease), 9, 11 (slightly bent at spine)
Fullmetal Alchemist [Light Novels]: 1 (slightly dirty)
Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden: 1, 4 (medium crease)
Fushigi Yugi The Mysterious Play: 1, 2 (slightly dirty), 3* (bent at spine, medium stain), 5*, 6*, 8* (multiple creases), 10 (ex-library, staples, creases, shelfwear), 11 (ex-library, slightly bent at spine, several creases), 12 (bent), 13 (ex-library, several creases)
GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class: 1*
Gaba Kawa (front 10% of book is "wavy" from water damage)
Gacha Gacha: 1-3
Gakuen Alice: 1, 11, 15
Gakuen Prince: 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 3
Galaxy Angel: 1, 2 (moderate shelfwear), 5 (significant spine stress and small rip in spine)
Galaxy Angel Beta: 1 (ex-library with creases)
Gamerz Heaven: 1-2
Garden Dreams: 1* (slightly bent)
Gatcha Gacha: 1-2
Gate [by Hirotaka Kisaragi]: 1
Gate Keepers: 1-2
Genshiken: 1, 3, 7 (wavy at back of book)
Gestalt: 1, 5
Get Backers: 1 (significant creasing in both covers), 2-3, 5
Ghosts* [one shot] (light-to-moderate shelfwear, a couple small creases, slightly dirty)
Gimmick!: 4
Gin Tama: 4 (slight yellowing)
Girl Got Game: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2, 3
Girls Bravo: 2, 7 (ex-library, moderate shelfwear, multiple creases, corners of covers are coming apart)
Glass Wings [one shot]
Go West: 1
Godchild: 1-3
Gon: 5 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear, ex-library)
Good as Lily* (moderate shelfwear)
Good Luck: 1, 2 (spine stress)
Goong the Royal Palace: 1* (ex-library, creases, peeling plastic on covers)
Gorgeous Carat: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 3 (moderate shelfwear), 4 (slightly bent)
Gothic Sports: 1 (moderate shelfewar, small-to-medium piece ripped off back cover), 2
Grand Guignol Orchestra: 1, 2 (tiny stain)
Gravitation: 1-3, 5 (moderate shelfwear, medium crease)
Gravitation Voice of Temptation [light novel] (moderate shelfwear)
GTO Great Teacher Onizuka: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, small rip)
Guardian Angel Getten: 3-4
Guardian Hearts: 1
Gunparade March: 1-3
Gunslinger Girl: 1-3
Guru Guru Pon-Chan: 1-2, 8 (ex-library)
Gyakushu!: 1 (moderate shelfwear)
.hack Legend of the The Twilight: 1-3
Haibane Renmei: 1
Haiyuki: 1
Hana-kimi: 1-3, 4 (several creases), 6-11
Hanami International Love Story: 1
Hanaukyo Maid Team: 1-3 [All of these are a slightly smaller size than normal]
Hand of the Morningstar: 5
Hands Off!: 1, 2 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear on spine), 3, 7 (ex-library, significant shelfwear, many creases, small pieces ripped off corners of pages)
Hannah Montana Secrets and Super Sneaks Cine-Manga (significant shelfwear, small creases)
Happy Cafe: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Happy Happy Clover: 1, 3
Happy Hustle High: 1-4, 5 (several small creases)
Happy Lesson: 1
Harlequin Violet Blind Date
Haruka Beyond the Stream of Time: 1, 2 (slight browning on inside covers)
Harukaze Bitter Bop: 1
Haunted House [one shot] (moderate-to-significant shelfwear)
Hayate the Combat Butler: 1 (ex-library, peeling plastic, several creases), 2, 16
Hayate X Blade: 4-5
He Is My Master: 1
He's My Only Vampire: 10 (slightly bent)
Heaven's Will [one shot]
Heavenly Executioner Chiwoo: 2
Hellgate London: 1 (tiny stain on 1 page)
Hellsing: 3 (moderate shelfwear, several small creases)
Her Majesty's Dog: 1 (moderate shelfwear, moderate yellowing, several small creases, small rip)
Here is Greenwood: 2 (bent at spine), 3 (small rip), 4
Hero Tales: 2, 5 (ex-library, faded spine, slightly bent at spine)
Heroman: 3
Hetalia: 1* (bent at spine)
Hibiki's Magic: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 2
High School Debut: 1, 7 (moderate yellowing, medium crease)
High School Girls: 1, 3
Higurashi When They Cry Abducted By Demons Arc: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2
Hikarou No Go: 1-2, 7 (ex-library), 19 (ex-library), 21 (ex-library)
Hikkatsu: 2 (ex-library, moderate shelfwear)
Hinadori Girl: 1
Hissing: 1* (smudges), 2* (dirty), 5*
Hollow Fields: 1-2
Honey and Clover: 5 (ex-library), 9 (ex-library, browning on inside covers)
Honey Hunt: 1 (slight browning of inside covers), 2
Honey Mustard: 1 (medium crease in back cover), 2-3
Hopeless Savages: 1* (ex-library, large crease, medium crease), 3* (ex-library, significant shelfwear, medium-to-large crease, medium rip taped together)
Hoshin Engi: 1
Hot Gimmick: 1-9, 12 (tiny stain)
House of Five Leaves: 8* (ex-library)
Howl's Moving Castle: 1
Hybrid Child* [one shot]
Hyde Closer: 1-3
Hyper Dolls: 1* (moderate shelfwear)
Hyper Police: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2
Hyper Rune: 3 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
I Am Princess X [Light Novel] (moderate shelfwear, many creases)
I Hate You More Than Anyone!: 6 (slightly bent)
I Luv Halloween: 1-2
I"s:2 (medium-to-large crease), 14
I"s:1, 2 (medium stain), 3, 7, 10, 12
I, Otaku Struggle in Akihabara: 1 (slightly brown inside covers), 2 (slightly brown inside covers)
I-Doll: 1
Ichiroh!: 1*
Id_entity: 1 (small rip, moderate shelfwear), 2 (moderate shelfwear), 3-6
Il Gatto Sul G: 2*
Imadoki!: 1 (several creases), 2, 3-5
Immortal Rain: 1, 3 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, slight yellowing), 4 (slight yellowing)
Imperfect Hero: 1, 3 (moderate yellowing)
In Dream World: 1-2
Indian Summer: 1
Initial D: 19 (ex-library, significant shelfwear, dirty)
Innocent W: 2 (moderate shelfwear, small rip)
Instant Teen: 1
Insufficient Direction [one shot]*
Inubaka Crazy for Dogs: 1 (ex-library, several small/medium creases)
Inukami: 1
Inuyasha: 1 (large crease), 2 (moderate yellowing), 3, 5-6, 13-18, 19 (several small creases), 43 (ex-library)
Inuyasha Ani-Manga: 3, 10 (slightly bent at one corner, a couple slightly dirty pages), 14 (a couple slightly dirty pages)
INVU: 1-3, 4 (ex-library, moderate shelfwear)
Itsuwaribito: 1-2
Jack Frost: 1 (moderate shelfwear)
Jim Henson's Legends of the Dark Crystal: 1
Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth: 1
Jing King of Bandits: 1, 2 (moderate shelfwear, several small rips), 3 (significant shelfwear, multiple creases, dirty, small rip)
Jinki Extend: 1-2
Jiu Jiu: 1
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: 7 (several creases)
Juline: 1* (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Junk Force: 1-2, 3 (medium crease, shelfwear at top and bottom of spine, slightly bent at one corner)
Junk Record of the Last Hero: 1, 5, 7
Juror 13 [one shot]
Just a Girl: 2
K-on: 4* (ex-library, significant shelfwear, bent at spine, several creases, small rip)
Kagerou-Nostalgia: 1 (small gouges in front cover)
Kagetora: 1, 2 (slight-to-moderate yellowing), 3 (ex-library)
Kamen Tantei: 1, 3 (ex-library, creases, medium stain)
Kamichama Karin: 1 (warped, moderate shelfwear, tiny stain), 2, 3 (several creases), 4 (significant shelfwear, several creases), 5 (several small creases), 6 (moderate shelfwear), 7 (small rip)
Kamichama Karin Chu: 1
Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne: 1, 4 (tiny stain), 5 [hardback] (ex-library), 6
Kamui: 1-2, 6 (slightly bent)
Kanna: 1, 2 (moderate shelfwear), 4
Kanpai: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, small crease)
Karakuri Odette: 2 (ex-library), 6 (ex-library)
Kare First Love: 1-4, 8
Kare Kano: 3 (spine stress), 4 (large stain, moderate shelfwear, small rip), 5
Kashimashi: 1, 2 (2 large creases)
Kasumi: 1 (multiple small creases), 2 (marker)
Kat & Mouse: 1
Kaze Hikaru: 1, 10
Kedamono Damono: 2-3
Kekkaishi: 1 (small stain)
Key Princess Story Eternal Alice Rondo: 1-2
Kids Joker: 1
Kieli: 1 (moderate shelfwear)
Kill Me, Kiss Me: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2 (moderate shelfwear), 3 (moderate shelfwear, several creases), 5 (moderate shelfwear, small rip)
Kim Possible: 3
Kimi ni Todoke: 10 (ex-library, slightly bent at spine)
Kimikiss: 1
King of Cards: 1
King of Hell: 1-2, 5 (significant shelfwear, small stain, small rip)
King of RPGs: 2
King of the Lamp [one shot] (medium hole in front cover, small holes in first 22 pages - barely affects reading)
King of Thorn: 2 (ex-library)
Kingdom Hearts: 1 (medium crease), 2 (moderate shelfwear), 3 (moderate shelfwear, small piece ripped off spine)
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories: 1 (significant shelfwear), 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, a couple small creases)
Kingdom Hearts II: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2 (slightly bent at spine, moderate shelfwear, small rip)
Kissing* [one shot]
Kitchen Princess: 1
Kodocha: 1
Koihime Soushi [one shot]
Kokoro Connect: 2
Kon Kon Kokon: 1
Kujibiki Unbalance: 1
Kurogane: 2 (moderate yellowing)
Kurogane Communication: 1
Kurozakuro: 2
Kyo Kara Maoh!: 1(warped, moderate shelfwear), 2, 3 (large but mostly invisible crease), 4 (moderate shelfwear)
La Corda d'Oro: 1, 6 (ex-library, slight-to-moderate yellowing)
La Esperanca: 1*
Laddertop: 1
Lagoon Engine: 1-2, 3 (small rip and small crease in front cover)
Lament of the Lamb: 1, 3 (moderate yellowing at edges)
Land of Silver Rain: 3 (slightly dirty, small crease), 7
Last Fantasy: 3-4
Last Hope: 1-2
Laya the Witch of Red Pooh: 1
LBX Little Battlers Experience: 6 (ex-library)
LDK: 1-2
Leader's High!: 1
Legal Drug: 1, 3 (large crease, small crease)
Legend: 1*, 3* (moderate shelfwear), 6*
Legend of Chun Hyang [one shot]
Legend of the Eight Dragon Gods: 1 (small rip in front cover)
Let's Dance a Waltz: 1 (ex-library, small rip, multiple small creases)
Liberty Liberty! [one shot]
Library Wars: 2, 3 (moderate shelfwear), 4
Life: 1 (several small creases)
Lights out: 1
Liling-Po: 1-3, 4 (moderate shelfwear), 5 (ex-library, several tiny rips)
Limit: 1
Little Queen: 1 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear)
Lizzie McGuire Cine-manga: 6
Lost at Sea*
Lost Boys* [one shot]
Louie the Rune Soldier: 1 (2 small stains)
Love Attack: 1-2, 5-6
Love Com: 1, 3 (slight browning on inside covers), 5 (moderate browning on inside covers, some wrinkles in cover), 7, 16 (ex-library), 17 (ex-library)
Love Hina: 1-2, 3 (bent), 4, 5 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 6 (tiny stain), 9 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear), 14
Love Master A: 1
Love or Money: 1-2, 3 (small rip in front cover)
Love Roma: 1, 4, 5 (ex-library)
Loveholic: 1
Loveless: 1, 2 (moderate shelfwear), 3 (moderate shelfwear, moderate yellowing, medium crease), 4 [hardback] (ex-library), 5
Lucky Star: 1* (small stain, moderate shelfwear, several small creases), 3* (small stain, front of book is warped)
Made in Heaven: 1-2
Magic Knight Rayearth: 1 (small-to-medium crease, slightly dirty)
Magical JxR: 2* (moderate shelfwear, several small creases, small rip), 3* (large crease, small rip)
Magical X Miracle: 1-2
Mahoromomatic: 1 (moderate shelfwear, slightly dirty), 2 (a couple small creases), 3 (several small creases), 4
Maid Sama!: 3 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear)
Maid Shokun: 1
Maid War Chronicle: 1
Maison Ikkoku: 1-4
Manga Dogs: 1
Maniac Road: 1
Maoh Juvenile Remix: 2
MAR Marchen Awakens Romance: 1-2
March on Earth: 1
Maria Holic: 1-2, 3 (significant creasing, moderate shelfwear), 4
Maria the Virgin Witch: 2-3
Marilyn the Story of a Woman* (medium stain, many creases, corners of covers coming apart)
Mark of the Succubus: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2 (small rip)
Marmalade Boy: 1-2
Mars: 6, 7 (moderate shelfwear)
Masca: 1
Maus: 1* (small rip), 2* (moderate shelfwear, small rip)
MBQ: 1
Me & My Brothers: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, small rip, tiny creases), 2 (moderate shelfwear), 3 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 5 (moderate shelfwear)
Megatokyo: 1-4, 5 (small stain)
Menkui!: 1
MeruPuri: 1, 2 (slight-to-moderate yellowing), 4
Metamo Kiss: 1 (moderate shelfwear)
Metro Survive: 2*
Midori Days: 5
Mikansei No. 1: 1-2
Miki Falls: 1 (small wavy spot, large creases, small rip, moderate shelfwear)
Millennium Snow: 1-2
Million Tears: 1 (medium stain, moderate shelfwear)
Minima: 1
Mink: 2, 4 (moderate shelfwear), 5 (significant shelfwear, bent at one corner, creases, small rips)
Miracle Girls: 3, 6
Missile Happy: 3 (small rip in spine)
Missing Kamikakushi No Monogatari: 1
Missions of Love: 10 (ex-library)
Mixed Vegetables: 2 (slightly bent, moderate browning of inside covers, large crease), 5 (moderate browning of inside covers), 8 (ex-library, large crease)
Mobile Fighter Gundam: 1 (slightly bent at spine, small rip)
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: 2
Model: 1 (moderate shelfwear, wrinkles in spine), 2-5, 7 (moderate shelfwear, small rip, medium crease)
Momogumi Plus Senki: 3, 4 (ex-library)
Monkey High: 2
Monster Hunter Orage: 3
Monster Soul: 2
Moonlight Meow: 1 (slight yellowing of inside covers)
Mouryou Kiden: 2 (1 large crease, several smaller creases, and a little dirty)
Mouryoukiden Legend of the Nymph: 1-3
Moyasimon: 1
Mugen Spiral: 1, 2 (moderate shelfwear)
Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation: 1 (several tiny stains), 12 (ex-library, 2 medium creases), 14 (ex-library)
My Dead Girlfriend: 1 (significant shelfwear)
My Dearest Devil Princess: 1
My Girlfriend's a Geek: 1-2
My Heavenly Hockey Club: 1, 2 (medium crease), 3, 6 (moderate shelfwear)
My Love Story!!: 2
My Neighbor Totoro: 3-4
Nabari No Ou: 1, 4 (ex-library)
Nabi the Prototype [one shot] (slightly bent, moderate shelfwear)
Nadesico: 1
Najica Blitz Tactics: 1-3
Nana: 1 (stain on back cover), 21 (ex-library)
NaNaNaNa: 1 (bent at one corner, small-to-medium stain)
Naruto: 1 (tiny stain), 2, 3 (slightly dirty), 4, 6, 7 (slightly bent at spine), 18 (bent), 21 (large crease, wrinkled plastic on spine), 27, 28 (tiny stain), 30, 40 (slightly bent, several tiny stains, a couple small creases), 43, 44 (slightly bent)
Naruto The Movie Legend of the Stone of Gelel (gouges and pinhole in back cover)
Neck and Neck: 1-2
Negima: 1, 2 (medium stain, slightly warped), 3-7
Neko Ramen: 1
Neon Genesis Evangelion: 2 (bent, multiple small creases), 11 (ex-library)
Neon Genesis Evangelion Angelic Days: 1 (plastic peeling at edges of covers)
Neotopia: 1 (has staples)
Never Give Up: 1, 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Ng Life: 1-2, 4 (ex-library)
Night Head Genesis: 1
Night of the Beasts: 1 (significant shelfwear)
Nightschool: 1*
Ninja Girls: 1
Nisekoi: 1
No Man's Land: 1-2
No Need for Tenchi: 1-2
Nodame Cantabile: 1, 2 (tiny stain), 5 (tiny stain)
Noodle Fighter Miki: 1
Nora: 1-3
Nosatsu Junkie: 1-3
Now: 1-3, 4 (2 large creases), 5 (ex-library, very dirty, small stain, slightly wavy at back, 2 small rips)
Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan: 1-2
Ocean of Secrets: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
Odd is On Our Side (ex-library, moderate-to-significant shelfwear, small creases)
Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakasi: 6
Off Beat: 1-2
Oh My God!: 1-2
Oh My Goddess!: 3 (ex-library, moderate shelfwear, several small creases), 9*
Omukae Desu: 1 (small rip in spine)
On the Books* (small piece ripped off back cover and 1 page)
Once in a Blue Moon: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear)
One: 1-2, 7
One Piece: 1 (small rip), 2, 5 (2 medium stains, moderate yellowing, several creases), 21
One Thousand and One Nights: 1
Onegai Twins: 2 [light novel]
Only the Ring Finger Knows* (wrinkles in spine)
Orange Planet: 1
Oresama Teacher: 7, 13
Orphen: 2, 3 (some creasing in back cover), 4, 6
Otazine Manga of Otaku Generation: 0 (large crease, small rip)
Othello: 1-2
Otogi Zoshi: 1-2
Otomen: 1, 10 (ex-library), 15 (ex-library), 16 (ex-library)
Our Kingdom: 1*, 3*, 4*
Ouran High School Host Club: 1
Outlaws of the Marsh: 6
Oyayubihime Infinity: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2 (moderate shelfwear)
Pandora Hearts: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 4
Pandora Hearts Caucus Race [light novel]: 2 (ex-library)
Pandora in the Crimson Shell: 2-3
Pantheon High: 1 (large crease, writing on 1 page)
Para Para* [one shot] (medium crease, a few folded pages)
Paradise Kiss: 1 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 4-5
Pastel: 1-3
Pavane for a Dead Girl: 1
Peace Maker: 1-2
Peacemaker Kurogane: 1 (slightly dirty, 2-3
Peach Fuzz: 1-2
Peach Girl: 1-2, 3 [pocket size], 4 [pocket size], 5 [pocket size], 6, 8 [pocket size]
Peach Girl Change of Heart: 2, 7-9
Peach Girl Sae's Story: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear, small rip)
Pearl Pink: 1-3
Peigenz: 3
Penguin Revolution: 1 (ex-library, moderate shelfwear, multiple creases), 2-6
Peppermint: 1 (moderate shelfwear), 2, 4
Persepolis 2*
Phantom Dream: 2, 3 (moderate shelfwear, tiny stain), 4 (ex-library), 5 (moderate shelfwear, several small creases)
Phantom Tales of the NIght: 1* (slightly bent, back cover is very dirty, several large creases)
Phantom Thief Jeanne: 1
PHD Phantasy Degree: 1, 2 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 3 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 4-5
Pichi Pichi Pitch: 2, 4, 5 (wrinkles in spine)
Pick of the Litter: 1 (multiple creases in both covers)
Pieces of a Spiral: 1, 4 (tiny stain), 7
Pig Bride: 2*
Pilgrim Jager: 1
Pink Innocent: 2
Pita-Ten: 1 (slightly scraped up), 2-4
Pixie Pop: 1
Planet Ladder: 1, 2 (slightly bent), 3-5
Platinum Garden: 1-2, 3 (light-to-moderate shelfwear), 6 (moderate-to-significant shelfwear)
Pokemon Adventures: 3 (slightly bent at spine)
Pokemon Adventures Diamond and Pearl Platinum: 1, 3
Pokemon Adventures HeartGold and SoulSilver: 1
Pokemon Adventures Ruby & Sapphire: 17 (slightly bent at spine), 21, 22 (a couple small creases)
Pokemon Black and White: 1, 2 (moderate shelfwear)
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure: 1 (a couple small creases), 2 (medium stain, small stain, and a several small creases), 4, 5 (several tiny creases), 8 (slightly bent at spine, tiny stain, large crease, several small creases)
Pokemon The Movie Kyurem Vs. The Sword of Justice [one shot]
Pop Japan Travel - Essential Otaku Guide [one shot]
Popo Can: 1
President Dad: 1, 2 (ex-library, plastic book cover, medium crease), 3, 4 (ex-library, plastic book cover, several creases), 6 (ex-library)
Pretear The New Legend of Snow White: 2, 3 (a couple creases, plastic peeling at edges of covers)