Spice and Wolf volume 24 read:

This book came out a couple weeks ago, not long before I noticed and downloaded it.  It was a dull read, with nothing really new about it from the previous 23 volumes.  The story is getting to be so long.  As usual there's some sort of business mixup where lots of people face bankruptcy if Lawrence doesn't come up with a clever solution to their problems, as usual Holo drinks and eats a lot while lending him her superpowers of rapid mobility and truth sense, and as usual in the nick of time he comes up with a brilliant business proposal that suits everyone's needs.  It's almost the same as a mystery story, being given clues over the course of the book and then finding the culprit at the end, except instead of a culprit it's the profitable deal.

How many times has this plot been repeated?  At least a dozen by now.  It reminds me of how new villains are introduced in Index, then defeated, and then new villains appear, in an endless cycle.  The only thing that ever changes is the names.  I'm still reading Index so I guess I should keep reading Spice & Wolf too.

Meanwhile I rewatched Fatal Fury in bluray and it was as good as I remembered it being.  So simple and pure, a straightforward storyline with straightforward characters who wear their hearts on their sleeves.  It feels like the 90's were a less complicated era than today.  Compare Fatal Fury to how cynical and dishonest the characters of Oshi no Ko are.

Russia reports Ukraine has suffered massive losses since their counteroffensive began in June, 66,000, or 22,000 a month.  As a reward they've taken a few piles of rubble that used to house a few thousand people.  All their conquests combined could fit into a corner of Bakhmut, population wise.  Ukraine doesn't care, though, they're just mustering up 500,000 more men to throw into the meatgrinder.  Since Ukraine apparently has infinity men, and are taking territory, eventually Russia is going to be driven out of its new territories at this rate.  This isn't actually a good trade.  Russia says its regular recruitment process is producing enough soldiers to win the war, but Ukraine is still gaining ground so I see no basis for this assessment.  I would feel much more at ease if Russia were taking this war as seriously as Ukraine was.