Oshi no Ko S4 announced:

I had predicted this.  There's no reason to animate S3 of Oshi no Ko unless you've already decided to animate S4.  This is because S3 is a rather dull 'things plodded along' section of the manga, with the fireworks all coming at the conclusion.

Nevertheless, it's nice to have it in writing.  We will have a fully animated adaption of the Oshi no Ko manga.  I gave it the ranking of 29th on this basis, so this won't affect its ranking.  The 29th best anime of all time is extremely high praise.  That's much higher than I rate, for instance, Sousou no Frieren.  I can't wait to see the conclusion to this anime.  It's a brilliant conclusion.  I'd say Kimetsu no Yaiba has the best conclusion of any manga, but Oshi no Ko is up there.

Mayonaka Heart Tune is also getting a sequel season.  It's no Oshi no Ko, but it's nice to have.

Ranma 1/2 is getting a third season, but it's still retelling stories the original anime covered perfectly.  It doesn't help us at all.  What we need is a Ranma season that covers material the original anime didn't.

People might dismiss Transformers as a franchise as just a toy commercial for kids.  But the Transformers animated movie was exceptional.  I did like Transformers toys as a kid, but that movie should be impressive to anyone.  That 1986 movie, where the Autobots and Decepticons work together to overcome the planet-sized devourer of Cybertron, Unicron, deserves to be immortalized.  It's essentially an anime, with art direction coming from Toei.  And it was a war movie in the truest sense, with people actually dying in battle one after the next.  Nothing came easy to the protagonists.  As such, I've added it to my movie hall of fame, taking out The Music Man to make room.  I barely have any memory of The Music Man.  It can't have been that good, considering I have vivid memories of the Transformers movie.  Now Transformers being in my wonderful hall of fame makes sense -- wonderful movies produce wonderful characters.

On the Heavenly front, I got Squad 31-B to defeat Skullfeather 1st form for the first time, giving them precious title badge experience.  Squad 31-B is really strong now, hosting Erika, Kozue and Sumomo, who all have eternal daphnes, so I knew they should be able to do it.  I tried to get Squad 31-C to win too but they were far too weak.  31-C, 31-D, 31-F and 30-G aren't keeping up with my premier squads.  At least I got Mari and Adelheid, who both have eternal daphnes, from 31-C to win by teaming up with non-31-C members.

Meanwhile, Tsugimonogatari has been fully translated and is available for reading.  This is the next book in the Monogatari series, one of my favorite light novel series.  So this is a day to celebrate for many reasons.

The Silver 115:

With the newly expanded wonderful hall of fame, it's interesting to note what franchises made the wonderful list but not the '100 Waifus' book.  These are the series that shouldn't be left off the radar when it comes to seeking future entertainment, once the over 300 options in '100 Waifus' are exhausted.

Dynasty Warriors, Star Control, The Emperor's Son (my own book), The Greatest Vision (my own book), DC Comics, Isekai Meikyu de Harem o, Tonikaku Kawaii, Kenja no Mago, Mega Man, The Twin Spires (my own book), Wind (my own book), Sellsword (my own book), Imouto Paradise, Kemono Friends, Lucky Star, Bravely Default, Class no Daikirai na Joshi to Kekkon suru Koto ni Natta, Mode, Kakkou no Iinazuke, Soul Calibur, Saved by the Bell, The Teen Web Novelist is a Girl Magnet, The Legend of Zelda, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Hunger Games, Prism Rondo, Spy Classroom, Super Mario Bros., Azumanga Daioh, Ghost in the Shell, Noucome, Incarnations of Immortality, Nicholas Nickleby, Shuumatsu no Izetta, Phantom Brave, Alien Nine, Full Moon O Sagashite, Indiana Jones, [Sakura, Saku], [Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare], Strobe Edge, Die Hard, Cobra, Grave of the Fireflies, Back to the Future, Ojamajo Doremi, Saber Marionette, Growth Cheat, Charlotte, Hyakuren no Haoh, Gundam, World Dai Star, 16bit Sensation, Henjin no Salad Bowl, Ginga E Kickoff, Samurai Showdown, Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku, Power Stone, Bio of a Space Tyrant, Apprentice Adept, Seitokai no Ichizon, Kamitachi ni Hirowareta Otoko, Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Iria: Zeiram the Animation, Ninja Scroll, Catch me at the Ballpark, X, Usagi Drop, Tears to Tiara, Noble Works, Saint Tail, The Parent Trap, Yume ka Utsutsu ka, Gone With the Wind, Clair Obscur Expedition 33, Yuusha Party wo Oidasareta Kiyoubinbou, Minami Kamakura Koko Joshi Jitensha-Bu, Ren'ai 0 Km, Onii-chan Dakeshimete, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tenjou Tenge, Slow Step, [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon], Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Life with a Flirty Step-sister, The Matrix, The Fifth Element, Silverado, Transformers, Triplet, Tangled, Moana, Nichijou, Devil Hunter Yohko, Harukana Receive, Idoly Pride, Nanare Hananare, The Wizard of Earthsea, Atlas Shrugged, The Belgariad, Jaran, Penhaligon, Middlemarch, Little Dorrit, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Brothers Karamazov, War and Peace, Dead Souls, I Am Charlotte Simmons, Bonfire of the Vanities, Vanity Fair, The Count of Monte Cristo

Before my leniency update to my wonderful hall of fame, necessary in order to secure more songs, it was the Silver 65.  But now it's the Silver 115.  Almost double the number of great series above and beyond '100 Waifus.'  If '100 Waifus' mentions around 305 great franchises, that would bring the total up to 420.  A lot of what I did was cannibalize from the 'copper' group.  I took unmentioned hall of fame series and mentioned them.  Another thing I did was mention things I thought beneath mention by lowering standards.  But there's also been a lot of recent good art that wasn't around last time I did this.

Between the three processes here we are.  We live in a bountiful world with at least 420 gold or silver works of art.  It's so much that even I, who doesn't work, can't keep up with it.  I haven't played Xenoblade X or Octopath 0 despite belonging to golden franchises and despite the games sitting on my bookshelf.  And now Heaven Burns Red is saying that Chapter 5 Part 2 Act II is coming out soon (which explains why the Part 2 I played was so short, it was only Act I apparently).  Obviously Heaven always takes priority, so the backburner will continue to burn.  To make matters worse, Akaneiro's visual novel is slated for release soon.  Since Yuuhi is one of my '100 Waifus,' I've been looking forward to playing it for years.

On the bright side, at least I'm caught up with great anime.  By finishing my rewatch of Spy x Family S3, I've now watched and rewatched all great anime that came out before 2026.

Speaking of great anime, I officially inaugurated Release that Witch into my top anime rankings.  It was given rank #121.  To make room, I combined the Higurashi and Umineko anime into a single franchise, which is fair enough because it is a single franchise.  Release that Witch has been the highlight of every week.  My only fear is the anime won't cover enough of the story and end after a single season.

Utilizing Star Control:

Star Control does have characters, but they're all forgettable.  What stands out is their diverse alien races.  The aliens in Star Control actually feel different from humans, in exciting and interesting ways.  If we view every species as a 'character', they could all make my fictional character hall of fame, and I could give high praise to Star Control while I'm at it.  Two birds with one stone:

Arilou:  Relic of Ancient Times

Chenjesu:  Tanjou

Chmmr:  A Battle Of Teamwork

Druuge:  Galbadia GARDEN

Humans:  Wild Child

Ilwrath:  Growing Fear

Melnorme:  Delightful Day

Mmrnmhrm:  Hanrangun no Theme

Mycon:  Deep Labyrinth ~Main Theme~

Orz:  Seymour's Ambition

Pkunk:  Life or Death

Shofixti:  Predicament

Slylandro:  Born into this World

Spathi:  The Silent Beyond

Supox:  Kokoro

Syreen:  How Can I Keep From Singing

Thraddash:  Fighting KOS-MOS

Umgah:  Albedo

Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah:  Gnosis

Ur-Quan Kzer-Za:  Proto Merkabah

Utwig:  Eruyt Village

VUX:  Forbidding Corridors

Yehat:  Followed Space Shuttle

Zoq-Fot-Pik:  Escape

Androsynth:  Book Of Days

That bags me another 25 songs.  Because Starcon is sci-fi, I finally found a reasonable place for all my high quality Xenosaga music.

While I'm at it, Ged from Wizard of Earthsea can have Somber Memories.  The Ghibli film of Wizard of Earthsea is quite decent, and I've read the entire book series.  Dagny from Atlas Shrugged can have The Hunters.  Garion from the Belgariad can have Caribbean Blue.  Tess from Jaran can have Breeze The Conductor.  Johauna from The Penhaligon Trilogy can have The Legendary Sword.  Tertius from Middlemarch can have lamentation.  Parry from Incarnations of Immortality can have Eternal Ruins.  Norton from the same series can have This Journey without End.  Nicholas and Kate from Nicholas Nickleby can have normal battle 2 and a push on the back.  Amy from Little Dorrit can have Port Noir, Harbor Town.  Amy from Little Women can have Symphony.  Romeo and Juliet can have Battle, Battle's End and shitsui.  Elizabeth from Pride & Prejudice can have Mhaura.  Billy from Where the Red Fern Grows can have At the Edge of Dawn CASE 2 ED.  Ivan from The Brothers Karamazov can have Ivan's Theme.  Pyotr from War & Peace can have Relaxation.  Chichikov from Dead Souls can have Bouken Suisei.  Georgi from The Red Wheel can have Immoralist.  Charlotte from I Am Charlotte Simmons can have Koibito no Mukashigatari no Yuugure no.  Sherman from Bonfire of the Vanities can have TEMPERED SOUL.  Becky from Vanity Fair can have Calmly Travelling.  Edmond, the Count of Monte Cristo, can have Karma.

I've read all these authors, all this great literature, so I should avail myself of their fictional characters.  I earned it!  It also allows me to honor the authors of these franchises within my wonderful hall of fame, putting them front and center alongside all the modern popular anime and video game characters.

With this, I've reduced the unassigned quality songs down to 10.  And if I haven't found a good use for these 10 after all this time in all likelihood the songs aren't that great anyway.  I think I'll just drop these remaining 10 and declare the project complete.  My new wonderful playlist, containing all the best music and all the best stories in the world, stands at 1781 songs.

Utilizing the Book of Swords:

I added Shiori Amsynth, Sacripant, Isolde and Hitomi from my own books.  I also added Rapunzel and Moana from Disney's Animated classics, Arthur (Aquaman), Eri from Boku no Hero Academia, Ayumu 'Osaka' and Chiyo from Azumanga Daioh, Mio from Nichijou, Yoko from 12 Kingdoms, Yohko from Devil Hunter Yohko, Sakura from Idoly Pride, Haruka from Harukana Receive, Kanata from Nanare Hananare, Tachikomas from Ghost in the Shell, Chocolat and Oka from Noucome, and Jun from Medalist.

About half of these characters had been in my hall of fame previously, but were cancelled due to being too weak.  But now that I'm desperate for more names they're welcome again.

The boldest move was to add the 12 magic swords from The Book of Swords.  They truly are the main characters of the story, and it's embedded within the lore of the story itself that the swords are alive and have a will of their own.  I remember those swords so vividly it's like I read the series yesterday:  Coinspinner, Wayfinder, Sightblinder, Doomgiver, Shieldbreaker, Woundhealer, Townsaver, Farslayer, Dragonslicer, Stonecutter, Soulcutter and Skulltwister.

That let me incorporate 32 more songs into my wonderful playlist:  The Past, Blood on the Cobblestones, song of departure, killing, Unused Track 6 (Air), Beyond the Deep Blue Seas, Beach of the Void, will, Under her Control, Shuffle or Boogie, the world starting to move, Another World of Beasts, Come, Fukai Mori, Starting Up, Adventurer's Challenge, Rise, Al Bhed Tribe's Chi, Thunder Plains, unblessed soul, Inaccessible Road, Dry Trail, Anakin's Betrayal, Invidia, The Darkness Nova, marche, A Ship Soaring the Skies of Conquest, Pain the Universe, APOCALYPSIS NOCTIS, The Azure Cavern, In the Abyss of Despair (True Ending Final Boss Cartesia) and #1 Crush respectively.  They had to match the personalities of the characters they were matched with, though, so there's still a lot of great songs I frustratingly keep not including.

That leaves 62 songs without a master.

Utilizing World of Warcraft:

There are 25 fictional characters I hadn't made use of yet, namely, the 25 characters I leveled to max in World of Warcraft, representing every race and class in the game (at the time I was still playing the game).  I spent years of literal playtime on this game, and produced all of these wonderful characters and the wonderful memories I have of leveling and gearing them.  I may as well use them now that I need more song-holding names.  So I employed all 25 of them to carry 25 World of Warcraft tunes of the highest quality.

This meant WoW songs that had been applied to other characters were taken away and given to my WoW characters.  The old fictional characters got new songs from my quality 4-star list to represent them.  Zhang Fei got Stand Alone.  Zhuge Liang got A Place for Reflection.  Ling Tong got ocean battle.  Meng Huo got Vamo'alla Flamenco.  Aegon (Snow) got Sword of Doubt.  Nuen got Home of the Spring Breeze.  Konoha got Yume Note.  Fate (Tertium) got Intension of the Earth.

The main benefit of attributing WoW songs to WoW characters isn't these eight songs getting to replace the old WoW songs, though.  The main benefit is the other 17 WoW songs that previously had no master, now all properly represented.  Now all the best WoW music is in my wonderful playlist, and all with characters that could not represent them better.  That's the main benefit.

I also added Ravagin from Triplet, a very good novel by Timothy Zahn.  He got Forbidden Land Eureka.  Also Raenys and Travis from Unicorn Overlord.  They got Autumn is Coming and Rough Lands Theme (HOMAM 3).

Now only 96 high quality 4-star songs remain unassigned.  It's a shame they haven't released a new Dynasty Warriors with an expanded roster of characters.  I could use them right now.  On the bright side, by some weird coincidence, my wonderful character list sits at exactly 1700 now.

In a feat of strength, I had Squad 31-E and Squad 31-X work together to take down Skullfeather First Form.  I told you Squad 31-E was developing nicely.  This gave them all important title badge experience due to defeating it for their first time.

Two Texas teams made it to the Sweet 16, so I still have plenty left to cheer for.

Oidasareta Kiyoubinbou is getting a second season, which is nice, considering Sophia is in my wonderful fictional characters hall of fame.  It isn't just me who loves her.

In Case of Emergency, Break Glass:

The only way to get an enormous number of additional fictional characters is to break a taboo -- use characters from Dynasty Warriors.  Dynasty Warriors are historical personages, but their video game versions are clearly fictional superheroes with over the top magical powers.  If I look at their Dynasty Warriors versions as fictional characters, then I can bypass my 'this is a fictional character hall of fame, only fictional characters may apply' rule.

If I'm going to be breaking a taboo anyway, I may as well go full hog and include every single Dynasty Warrior as a hall of famer.  That too is the only way to get a sufficient number of song-eligible names.  So without further ado, let's assign a quality 4-star song to every single Dynasty Warrior:

Wei:

Xiahou Dun:  Combat -adversity-

Dian Wei:  Farewell Song

Zhang Liao:  let my soul burn (maxi's theme)

Cao Cao:  Tyrano Castle

Xu Zhu:  Jesters of the Moon

Xiahou Yuan:  Combat -subjugation-

Xu Huang:  The Sensational World

Zhang He:  Dance With The Balamb-Fish

Cao Ren:  Under Martial Law

Cao Pi:  Dark World

Zhenji:  Overture (FF6)

Cai Wenji:  Tenderness In The Air

Jia Xu:  HEADHUNT

Pang De:  Combat Theme 1 (HOMAM 3)

Wang Yi:  Feel My Blade

Guo Jia:  Successive Battles

Yue Jin:  The Battle (FF5)

Li Dian:  Battle 1 (FF3)

Yu Jin:  Panic

Xun Yu:  Run Through Flames - Largo Bridge (Extra Version)

Cao Xiu:  Mitsui 01

Man Chong:  Martial Law

Xun You:  Watching the Tower in the Sea of Flames

Wu:

Zhou Yu:  Clear and Serene

Lu Xun:  scarlet

Sun Shangxiang:  Anxious Heart

Gan Ning:  Pirates Ahoy!

Sun Jian:  Sealed Away

Taishi Chi:  Sentou Scene 2 A

Lu Meng:  Battle Theme #2 (FF11)

Huang Gai:  Sentou Scene A

Zhou Tai:  Protecting my Devotion

Ling Tong:  ocean battle

Sun Ce:  a high spirited tiger (xiba's theme)

Sun Quan:  Four Heroes

Xiaoqiao:  Good luck to the store!

Daqiao:  I hope the weather will be sunny tomorrow

Ding Feng:  Save Them!

Lianshi:  The Mines of Narshe

Lu Su:  Returners

Han Dang:  Sentou Scene 2 B

Zhu Ran:  HEATMAN STAGE

Cheng Pu:  Kagerou

Xu Sheng:  Atsuki Ya no Gotoku

Shu:

Zhao Yun:  Deliver Me

Guan Yu:  The Mountain Song

Zhang Fei:  Stand Alone

Zhuge Liang:  A Place for Reflection

Liu Bei:  Three Kings

Ma Chao:  Airship (FF11)

Huang Zhong:  Avilla Hanya

Wei Yan:  beyond the wasteland

Guan Ping:  myu 02

Pang Tong:  Koko

Yueying:  GIRAFFE BLUES ~Freyja Solo~

Jiang Wei:  battle of e platoon

Liu Shan:  New Day, New Life

Xingcai:  Phosphor

Ma Dai:  Brave Advancement

Guan Suo:  Ahead On Our Way (FF7)

Bao Sanniang:  Descendant of Shinobi

Xu Shu:  Off the Edge of Despair

Zhang Bao:  Grand Finale?

Guan Xing:  The Serpent Trench

Guan Yinping:  Fisherman's Horizon

Fa Zheng:  A Full Scale Attack

Zhou Cang:  Fune

Xiahouji:  Kirei na Kanjou

Jin:

Sima Yi:  Kingdom Of Tantal (Day)

Sima Shi:  The Snowbound Land

Sima Zhao:  Seat of the Empire

Deng Ai:  Battle 2 (FF3)

Wang Yuanji:  Subconscious Domain (Winter)

Zhong Hui:  Absence of Light

Zhuge Dan:  Seeking Power

Xiahou Ba:  wind blows, battlefield

Guo Huai:  Wheel Of Fortune

Jia Chong:  What Lies Within

Wen Yang:  Harvest Dance

Zhang Chunhua:  Sohma, the Snow-Covered Expanse

Xin Xianying:  Aka Fusha

Other:

Diaochan:  Necropolis (HOMAM 4)

Lu Bu:  The World's Awakening [Final Boss Theme]

Dong Zhuo:  Inferno Towns (HOMAM 3)

Yuan Shao:  Combat Theme 2 (HOMAM 3)

Zhang Jiao:  The Ancient Library

Meng Huo:  Vamo'alla Flamenco

Zhurong:  Gurugu Kasan

Zuo Ci:  Matouya no Doukutsu

Chen Gong:  Delightful Spekkio

Lu Lingqi:  One Day Like This

Dong Bai:  Sora

Hua Xiong:  The World for the People

Yuan Shu:  City Theme - Academy (HOMAM 5)

* * *

I had 213 quality 4-star unassigned songs to work with, so the 94 songs I chose for these 94 Dynasty Warriors were not the 'top 94 unassigned songs,' they were the 94 songs that best fit these characters, from out of the 213 songs available.  How do I know which songs fit these characters best?  Because I've played every Dynasty Warriors since 3, for thousands of hours, and I know all these characters by heart by now.  I leveled virtually every one of these characters to max at some point in the series.

This means that among my remaining 119 unassigned songs are really stellar songs I'm really going to miss.  But there's nothing I can do about that right now.  At least I found a home for 94 songs.  Humorously, this sails Dynasty Warriors by far to the top of my wonderful fictional character hall of fame.  Final Fantasy, with its 62 wonderful characters, is nothing compared to the new top dog.  >.<.

215 songs left to assign characters to:

I added Thom, Rodel, Nynaeve and Aviendha from The Wheel of Time to my wonderful fictional characters hall of fame.  Also Hikaru and Sheryl from Macross.  Nagato and Asuma from Naruto were also added.  As was Jubilation (Jubilee) from X-men.  As was Exdeath from Final Fantasy.  As was Mallory from Neverness.  As was Robo from Chrono Trigger.  As was Daenerys and Aegon (Jon Snow) from A Song of Ice and Fire.  As was Muzan from Kimetsu no Yaiba.  As was Meruam from Hunter x Hunter.  As was Optimus Prime from Transformers.  As was Mario and Peach from Super Mario Brothers.  As was Glen/Shade, Rain/Sunbeam and Nuen from The Twin Spires.  As was Hei Ming Jong, Yue Fang Jong, Gai Yi and Fae Lao from The Emperor's Son.  As was Gust, Gale and Vistan from Wind.

Thom received Marco Polo, Rodel received Magical Power of Evil Mae Vangard, Nynaeve received The Decisive Battle (FF5), Aviendha received An Oasis in a Desolate Desert, Exdeath received The Evil Lord Exdeath, Hikaru received National anthem of MACROSS, Sheryl received Iteza Gogo Kuji Don't be late.  Nagato received Avenger - Determination.  Asuma received Hokage.  Jubilation received amber valley.  Mallory received Silk Road in the Sky II.  Robo received Robo's Theme.  Daenerys received the evil flame.  Aegon (Snow) received Sword of Doubt.  Muzan got Mugen.  Meruam got Hammerhead ～The Last Bastion~.  Optimus received Boss Battle 1.  Mario received Mario Bros. Main Theme.  Peach received Beware the Forest's Mushrooms.  Glen/Shade received Mistaken Love.  Rain/Sunbeam received Unrequited Love.  Nuen received Home of the Spring Breeze.  Hei Ming Jong received Zangief Stage.  Yue Fang Jong received T. Hawk Stage.  Gai Yi received Blanka Stage.  Fae Lao received M. Bison Stage.  Gust received The Old Ways.  Gale received sun moon and stars.  Vistan received Huron 'Beltane' Fire Dance.

Despite assigning all these songs, I still have 215 unassigned 4-star songs that deserve to be heard as often as my 5-star songs.  I used every character I could think of, including the ones from my own books that I had previously taken out.  None of these characters are undeserving.  A lot of them are the protagonists or antagonists of their stories.  The big question for most of these names is 'why weren't they included already?'

But there aren't 215 more names like that floating around unused.  Ideally, over half my 4-star music would be in my wonderful playlist, because over half my 4-star music is essentially as good as my 5-star music.  But right now I'm at 371/1100, or one third.  I suppose I can slowly consume more art and discover more wonderful characters and chip away at these missing 215 songs in the years to come.  But that feels far too slow.  I want to listen to this music now.  >.<.

There was no new event in Heaven Burns Red this week, but plenty of loot was handed out.  I got base Minori to level 3 limit break, diva Ruka to level 3 limit break, one piece Bon Ivar to limit break 2.5, and shrine maiden Risa to level 1 limit break.  I also maxed out Mari and Misato's mementos, and almost maxed out Adelheid's.  The goal is for all Memorias with eternal daphnes, they should also have max mementos, to best make use of the fact that they have eternal daphnes.

I finished my reread of The Twin Spires.  There are some boring digressions where people waste time talking about philosophy, but overall the book is solid.  Especially once the elves are introduced.  I wrote this book a long, long time ago, so it's satisfying to see how well it still holds up.

I'm very much enjoying the endless basketball of March Madness.