BookTuber overing classic Fantasy Novels.

The name of the YouTube Channel is The Everyman Reads.

The idea is he's going to review 500 major Fantasy Novels in the order they were written.  He's still very early in the project having just reviewed George MacDonald's Lilith.  And it's a very good video everyone should watch it. 

In this video he defines how he divides Fantasy into 6 Eras. He's probably about right in what his divisions are, but the Pedantic in me can't help but me annoyed my labels he choose, the point of naming eras after precious Metals is that repeat the Greek Mythological format, Gold then Silver then Bronze and then Iron.  His timeline goes Bronze, Silver, Classic, Golden, Modern and the current recently started not definitively named era.  Which is the other pedantic complaint, Modern is by definition current, if we aren't in the same era as 2005-2020 anymore then that era needs a new name. 

Now I said when talking Eras of Anime that The Golden Age is the first full era of greatness, but there cna be a proto or pre history. So I would call his Bronze Age the formative years, then his Silver Age The Golden Age, then his Classic age the Silver Age and his Golden Age the Bronze Age and his Modern Age the Iron Age. 

The 500 books he's selected are naturally biased towards the English Speaking world. And that's fine actually, there is a lot to cover just there. I just want to use this framing as a jumping off point for mentioning some foreign works I feel deserve more credit and attention.  Because what foreign language country's fiction I'm interested in changes depending on the era. 

The first two era line up well with my Froncophilic interests thanks to CoolFrenchComics.com and BlackCoatPress.

Paul Feval wrote only one book I'm confident can be considered Fantasy enough to definitely count, La Ville Vampire translated into English by the late Brian Stableford as Vampire City, first serialized in the 1860s.  Stuff straddling that transitional line would include some of the works in Anne of The Isles. Some of his books set in modern Paris I would draw inspiration from when writing Urban Fantasy though they wouldn't actually count since the Supernatural element is always left ambiguous, The Vampire Countess, Revenants, Knightshade and The Companions of The Treasure is in my view the most Tolkienesque thing written before Tolkien. 

In 1908 and 1908 Gustave Le Rouge wrote two novels that directly anticipate the Barsoom series, these were Translated and published together as Vampires of Mars. 

1919's L'Atlantide is like She in some ways but not in others, the author Pierre Beniot had not read She. But it has had a similar if more forgotten cultural impact, for awhile being directly adapted every decade but also in the name of it's Femme Fatale Antinea influencing even more films.

As far as arguing that 1990-2004 was the best era of Fantasy Prose Novels, that's where my Weeb interests come in.  I haven't read these books, I haven't even seen all the Anime based on them, but I know a lot about their cultural importance.  And these are only stories that were originally Prose Novels which Light Novels count as, I won't be including anything that started as a Manga, Anime, Video Game or Visual Novels.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan series started in 1987 but continued all through this era. 

Majuu Senshi Luna Varga is referred to as being based on a Light Novel but I can't find any publication dates for it, it's probably the most randomly obscure thing I'm going to list here.

Slayers started in 1990.

The Twelve Kingdoms started in 1999 and is one of the many GRRMs of Anime, it's still unfinished. 

On the subject of Urban Fantasy I'm unsure what does and doesn't count but 1998 started a peak era for Japanese Urban Fantasy with Boogiepop and Others in February and the first Kara No Kyoukai in October.  I also recall Trixie The Golden Witch mentioning an anthology book of Light Novels like these called Faust. 

Scrapped Princess was from 1999 to 2003.

Legend of The Legendary Heroes started in 2002. Which is also the same year as the original Web Novel for Sword Art Online. 

Baccano! started in 2003 as did The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya if you count either as Urban Fantasy.

The year 2004 was the start of at least three important Light Novel sagas. 

The Familiar of Zero was very popular and a website that started as a fansite for it would go on to by the main incubation chamber for modern Isekai.

And then two more where I'm unsure if they count as Urban Fantasy or now.  Durarara!! and A Certain Magical Index.

All Art is Political, but not all art is Partisan.

All Art is Political in the sense that all Art will reflect the politics of the time and culture that created it in some way, especially if it’s actively trying not to. What is perceived as Apolitical says a lot about the politics of a given time or culture. 

The conservatives who object to that statement do so because they can only see art as political when it’s loudly taking a side on an actively contentious political issue.  Which is what I mean by “Partisan” here, might not be the best term to use but it's what I could think of. 

However Conservatives are not the only ones getting the true meaning of “All art is political” wrong. Because a lot of Breadtubers are often citing the true definition only to then justify their very Partisan political reading of something as objectively undeniably correct. 

This obsession with trying to tell all the reactionaries of the Internet that whatever they are nostalgic for was always Woke actually is very misguided. Because even when it is somewhat true it is so usually because of how what was Woke when the original Star Trek series was airing has become the mostly uncontested Apolitical Status Quo since. 

Most mass produced highly popular Art is pretty broadly Centrist in the grand scheme of things even when taking a few actually Partisan stances. And most Art that is made by Conservatives are not like the cartoonish virtue signaling content Breadtubers dunk on to “prove” all Conservative Art is bad, most of it is actually pretty good at drawing on where in theory Leftists agree with them.

As a Death of the Author believer, I firmly believe you can make a plausible Woke reading of just about anything. And I believe we should make those readings and keep making YT videos based on them. But those are not objectively the only correct way to read them.  

And the most actually Leftist stuff Hollywood has made like Andor can still be read by Conservatives as supporting their world view in ways that engage with the actual text just as much as our reading does.  We can’t call it denying reality when they do it but sophisticated analysis when we do it. 

I’ve even seen Breadtubers try to claim Tolkien was Woke actually, and I’m sorry but that’s absurd, being less Racist then the Nazis does not a Woke person create.  

If Ayn Rand hadn’t been so vocal about her politics in non fiction contexts I’m convinced there absolutely would be a group of Internet Leftists arguing her writings were Woke actually.  Or at the very least if we only had The Fountainhead to go off, a Woke reading of The Fountainhead is absolutely theoretically possible. 

All the time I see people just using the fact that a given story has Nazis be the guys as their proof that it's Woke. And every time I feel like yelling “you know better than this”, you know that most Nazi villains in fiction are disconnected from why we Leftists consider them the ultimate Evil and are just being used as symbols of vague Authoritarianism, or purely for the aesthetic. You know full well that Conservatives are constantly calling Leftists the real Nazis. 

But even without such explicit appeal to Nazism, sometimes just the simple fact that a Fantasy or Sci-Fi narrative is doing Rebels against an Empire is seen as an inherently Left Wing position to take  But when these same people are looking at real life they know better, they know sometimes the Rebels are the Reactionaries, The Confederate States of America, The Beer Haul Putsch, January 6th ect.

We all know full well that nominally Left Wing Dictators have also worn military uniforms and done big showy military parades.  So let’s stop pretending we don’t and that those visuals are only ever about Fascism ™.

And there is also more to Anticapitalism than just “Rich People Bad”, as someone who has heard people all over the Political Spectrum talk about their perspectives I can assure you that most Conservatives and even most Libertarians firmly believe that the vast majority of Rich People are Evil.  The political disagreement is solely about what policies serve their interests.  And if you think that is too absurd to be true in some cases, let me give you this very enlightening example.  

I have seen Climate Change Deniers claim that it is specifically the Oil Companies who created the Global Warming narrative and fund environmentalist groups opposed to Fracking and Offshore drilling because it helps them control the market and drive up Oil prices.

Good Parodies are Affectionate Parodies

I forget where I saw this, I think it was a random YT comment or something, but I definitely recall seeing someone say "Every good parody eventually just becomes a satisfying version of what it's parodying".

In the context of Anime I feel this is particularly demonstrated by Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy, in particular it's 96-97 TV Anime also sometimes titled Magical Project S.  It's early episodes are very concise parodies of Magical Girl Tropes, sometimes I feel like they have Sailor Moon S in particular in mind, but never mean spirited.  However by it's final stretch of episodes it's just doing a legit sincere Magical Girl story that is simply also makes more jokes then usual.

Mel Brooks has said he made Blazing Saddles as an Affectionate Parody of Westerns. What killed the old school Western during this era wasn't this parody but a general shift in how Americans thought about that era of how history reflected in the more serious Deconstructions made at the time.

Even very goofball parodies like Airplane or the 90s Waynes Brothers' films are still telling a story that on some level works independent of just being a string of Jokes at others movies expense. 

I remember a similar thought to this when Trixie The Golden Witch and Best Guy Ever talked about the Rick and Morty Episode that parodies Heist Movies.  For all the jokes at the expense of the formula, it also in it's own way provides a satisfying Heist narrative twist at the end.

The truly Cynical parodies like the ones that stretched the truth about being made by the same people who wrote Scary Movie were never liked and only remained profitable because they were so cheap to make. 

In Patrick Willems most recent video on Music Biopics he talks about Walk Hard and how dismayed he is that it didn't kill the Music Biopic Genre. But that's the thing, I haven't seen that movie but if it truly is as mean spirited as Willems describes it, a movie made by and for only the people who hate the Genre it's parodying then that's why it flopped, that's why the only people who actually found it funny were weirdos with a bizarre grudge against an entire genre.

This extends to the more Internet based styles of Parody as well.  I know that the people at Something Witty Entertainment are fans of Sword Art Online and that their SAO Abridged is an Affectionate Parody and that they are annoyed every time an AniTuber makes a Video Essay citing their parody as vindication of their SAO Hate. 

SWE do not seem to be fans of In Another World With My Smartphone in the same way which is why their one shot parody of that Anime fell flat with me, it's not nearly as funny as their SAO stuff.  Another more obscure YouTube channel called Yusho Productions has done a good Affectionate IWA Abridged that I find hilarious. 

The difficult question is, can this paradoxically apply to a Parody of something that never even existed?

I already made a post on how the Otome Villainess sub genre is based on a type of Otome Game that has never existed.  And I've since learned I'm not the only one who's noticed that.

https://mithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2024/12/i-have-something-against-otome.html

But I've enjoyed some of these shows regardless, because for being founded on a seemingly insulting misrepresentation they still are not basing every Joke on "isn't it messed up Otome Games are like this" instead they just do what a good Shoujo Anime always does within that framing.

The show Trapped In A Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs commonly shortened to MobuSeka has gotten particular ire from those who are mad about this genre's mistaken premise. Because at least this is the one sub type of modern Isekai were the leads are usually Girls.  So using this premise to make another typical male power fantasy Harem feels particularly egregious to them.

But this happens to be one of the Otome Villainess based show I've enjoyed the most, so why?

What would be the appeal of this kind of story if it unironically existed? The appeal would be Romances that defy class barriers.  The protagonist in ModuSeka as he starts felling in love with the two main girls feels like his unworthy of them, like they are the lead characters and he is just a background character. As a Romance it is in fact doing exactly what you'd expect the non existent genre to do only gender inverted and with a meta twist. 

I also find it interesting to think about in the context of my thesis about how much 21st century Otaku media has it roots in Boys in the 90s enjoying Shoujo Media and taking influence from it. 

I also really like Luxion, of every Anime character you could jokingly compare to Jarvis, he might be the best. 

Another Detective Conan Netflix Dub Watch Order Post.

Why am I making another when there aren't even any new episodes up yet?

It's occurred the order the episodes originally came out in isn't the only alternative to the Order Netflix has them in.  That order I of course already discussed.

https://mithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2026/01/and-one-more-thing-new-detective-conan.html

Because Detective Conan is an easy show to get into where the continuity of where we currently are in the overall timeline only occasionally matters.

An argument can made that, besides maybe the first two episodes, watching the entire Rivals collection before the Black Organization collection could work. Those episodes give a better idea of what the Average Detective Conan episode is like even while also including notable events and important character moments.

But one simple change that could make the jumping around between collections a bit easier would be to watch Locked Room in The Sky Shinichi Kudo's First Case before the episode that introduces Haibara, Girl from The Black Organization. Since Haibara isn't in that episode, not even the framing device, and the bulk of it is a flashback. 

Indeed the Desperate Revival six parter is the only part of the Rivals Collection that feels like it really matters where you watch it relative to the Black Organization stuff, beside Hiabara being there it also directly references events from the Reunion with The Black Organization three parter. And for reasons that could be spoilers to explain it can be deemed important to watch before the Vermouth storyline, which begins proper with The Mysterious Passenger.

So maybe watch the first two episodes in Black Organization, then watch Rivals up till you finish Locked Room, then return to Black Organization collection for 5 episode (one of them being feature length), then finish the Rivals collection and then finish Black Organization. 

My hopes for what additional Detective Conan content gets dubbed this year.

First let's talk about movies.  I have quickly come to love the Nano cast the most of all English casts I've heard for this franchise.  I do like the BangZoom cast more then enough that I'd definitely rather they continue the Films then no more films getting Dubbed at all.  But if possible I would like for the Nano cast to also take over dubbing the films, but don't redo any that already have a Dub till all with none are covered, which are movies 7-18 and then catching up on the most recent until only the last 1 or 2 still aren't dubbed.

But I'd also be fine with this year focusing on Dubbing the show itself and not getting more movies besides besides 27 and maybe 28 (and maybe release movie 18 if it's true it's already recorded).

I am optimistic that what we'll get from the Netflix Dub project is a Cour of international count episodes every 2 months or 2 cour every 3 months, meaning 6-8 cours over the course of the next year.

Speaking of movie 27, it'd be good market synergy to have a selection focused entirely on Kaitou Kid appearances to correspond with that film's English Dub getting released.  It's be nice if it could cover all of them from before the Mystery Train Arc, save the Mystery Trains Arc (episode 699-704) to be the Finale of a future cour covering the Bourban Arc.  I've done the math and there is room for a 2 cour collection to cover all of them including Shinichi Kudo's Childhood Adventure and Kobayashi Sensei's Love which transitions into The Kirin's Horn.

I'd also like to see a collection continue where the Black Organization collection left off. One where the first cour includes the 2 2-parters that introduce Eisuke Hondou, Shadow of the Black Organization and the first 4 episodes of The Clash of Red and Black, then the second cour would be the rest of The Clash of Red and Black and The Karaoke Box Case which says goodbye to Eisuke (so far).  They could call it the Red vs Black Collection.

I'd like to have a Cour that is 646-657 which happens to be 13 consecutive international count episodes that among other things introduce Sera Masumi.  It'd arguably have to be preceded by a Cour that incudes the Homes Revelation saga and maybe one with the earliest appearances of Subaru Okiya and Scar Akai. [Update: 652-655 are not as relevant to the Sera Masumi or Bourbon storylines as I initially assumed.]

The Holmes Revelation case along with episodes 398-400 could be part of another ShinRan romance focused cour.  

I'd also really like one that fills in the gaps that were skipped over during the Vermouth saga.  Principally Contact with The Black Organization 309-311 and Four Porsches 338-339 and then Hidden Bathroom Secret 340-341. Those could be covered by a Haibara centered Collection which could also include Hooligan's Labyrinth 279-280. And then episodes focused on the FBI characters like The Battle Game Trap 226-227, then 277-278 and The Man from Chicago 258-259, On The Trail of The Silent Witness 307-308 and 343-344 The Connivence Story Trap.

And then if there is time for more after covering all that, maybe drop a cour near Halloween focused on episodes that could work as Halloween episodes, a lot of the ones where the case is solved using Sonoko's voice would happen to fit into that.

This is the year for 20th Anniversaries of 2006 Anime.

Starting with January 9th being the 20th anniversary of Detective Conan’s 425th episode Black Impact! The Moment the Black Organization reaches out.  An episode I’ve discussed on this blog already and is among those you can watch Dubbed on Netflix and Crunchyroll.  January 8th 2026 is also the 30th year of the Detective Conan anime premiering, which the community at large has been more focused on talking about, Anime with 30th anniversaries I may save for a separate post, though I'm not sure 96 has enough to talk about. 

I happened to spend some time in late 2025 on social media asserting a view that 2006 is the Best Year of Anime, not even thinking about the fact that those shows are getting their Two Decade anniversaries soon.  2006 is not a year I consider either the start or end of an era, it’s more like it’s the peak of what I call the Bronze Age of Anime.

Alright technically two Anime episodes I consider of note aired before January 9th.  January 6th was the last episode of Shuffle.  And the pilot of Studio Deen’s Fate/Stay Night anime on the 7th.  But my defense of Deen/Stay Night mainly begins with episode 3 where you should start after watching UBW’s episode 0 and 1 to get the property beginning of the VN.

Nerima Daikon Brother is a hilarious spiritual sequel to Excel Saga. Kashimashi: Girl Meets World could be the best stealth Trans Feminine Anime. Good Anime with second cours airing in Winter include, Karin, Black Cat, Mai-Otome and Blood+ which was actually still be airing for most of 2006. 

Returning to Detective Conan in February Eisuke Hondou made his Anime Debut in 429-430 Two People Who Can’ Return.

For Spring Simoun is an Anime I still haven’t seen yet but intend to, it’s an important example of Anime exploring Gender.  Another spring show I haven’t seen that I know is important is Gintama. I don't have much interest in that one. 

Shows I have seen from Spring are where we really start getting to how 2006 isn’t just a good year but could be the best.  

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya, which I shouldn't need to explain the logic of considering one of the most important Anime of all time. 

Strawberry Panic which I consider the Magnum Opus of Classic Class S style Yuri Anime.

The second season of School Rumble, which surpassed the first season, is one of the best really wild Comedy Anime, an important precursor to more modern shows like Kaguya Sama: Love Is War and DFrag. 

Nana is the best Shoujo Melodrama of all time.

Higurashi When They Cry which is still the best Horror Anime of all time.

I’ve only seen a few episodes of .hack//roots, not sure what to think of it yet. 

Though the year isn’t looking great so far in the Film department, with nothing I’ve seen from Winter and Spring having one of my personal lowest ranked Detective Conan films.

Summer had The Familiar of Zero which via a website that started as a fansite for it can be considered the Grandmother of both modern Isekai and modern Magic Academy Anime.

Le Chevalier D’Eon which is one of the year’s top forgotten Gems, a highly recommended Anime for all Francophiles. 

And Summer finally has some good movies with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and the 9th Pokémon film, Pokémon Ranger and The Temple of The Sea. 

And in late July Eisuke Hondou made his second appearance in 446-47 The Sealed Western-Style Window.

Fall is what really seals the deal.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl began on September 28th, which I consider the best era of the Pokémon TV Anime.

Death Note is another show that is inarguably one of the most popular and influential of all time.

Kyoto Animation’s Kanon I consider the best Anime based on a Dating Sims Style Visual Novel, and it's definetly an important precursur to more well know KyoAni Key adaptations that came later.

Code Geass first season which is my favorite Mecha Anime and I at one time considered it my second favorite Anime over all.  Regardless of my personal opinion, it's as widely popular among Anime fans as Death Note, if only a little less mainstream, that show’s natural rival and counterpart in a lot of ways.

Strain: Strategic Armoured Infantry is another great hidden gem, think of it as unofficially a Gundam where Sayla Mass is the main character. 

The Mai-Otome Zwei OVAs I also enjoyed. 

So a lot of important Anime turn 20 this year, and some neat bonuses as well. 

A notable non PreCure Mahou Shoujo is all 2006 lacks among what I’m already aware of. 

And one more thing: new Detective Conan episodes on Netflix

I'm pretty happy with what we got, all episodes not Dubbed before.

First to the updated original watch order for people only using Netflix.

Watch the first two episodes of the Black Organization Collection.

Then watch the first 11 episodes of the Rivals collection.

Then watch the next two episodes of the Black Organization Collection.

Then watched Locked Room in The Sky, Shinichi Kudo's First Case in the Rivals Collection.

Then watch the Reunion with The Black Organization 3 parter.

Then finish the Rivals Collection.

Then finish the Black Organization Collection.

[Update: The director of the Dub has also posted what the Watch order is.

https://matchaandmayhem.tumblr.com/post/799001080524570624/detco-dub-order]

The Detectives Gathered Together is an episode that will turn 25 years old on the same day the Pilot episode turns 30, January 8th.  The Mysterious Passenger is also from 2001.

I have to say the Rivals of The Great Detective Collection feels very misnamed.  Only some episodes involve any character who could be called a Rival to Conan, but there are few that don't feel important to the ShinRan Romance storyline. It's almost like they wanted to hide that Romance was the real focus.

This is perhaps the best this Dub has seen of Sonoko so far, still none of the episode where the case is solved using her voice, but it captures the point of her character better then the small roles she had in Kid's Debut or the Vermouth Arc's finale.

The Case from the last two episodes of The Desperate Revival is a Columbo episode though I forgot to note it as such when making my personal list of Columbo episodes, Kudo even has a "one more thing" moment, though probably for lipflap reasons the Dub didn't translate it using that exact phrase.

It's amusing how in less then two months a number of Magic Kaito supporting character went from having no English VAs to having 2 each.

The detective wearing Green in Detectives Gathered I'm pretty sure has the same VA as "Santos" from the Funimation Dubs of the first 6 movies.  A voice actor who I remember uniquely because of the Audio Commentary for the final episode of Robotics;Notes, I think it was the last episode I'm thinking of.