Things that Made Me Happy In 2022
This is the time of year when I always feel the urge to look back and take stock. This was, if I’m being honest, not a great year for me. I struggled a lot with my mental health, and it was hard to deal with the various sources of stress in my life - my job, my friends, my trauma, my creative goals.
That said, it wasn’t all bad! Here are approximately 22 things that made me happy in 2022.
TV/Anime
There were, apparently, a lot of very good live action shows this year, but I have to admit that I either didn’t get a chance to watch them (there’s a limit to how many streaming services I can afford, and also to how many friends will give me their passwords) or they didn’t make much of an impression. Maybe I’m crazy, but I really feel like anime is where the good storytelling is these days!
Mob Psycho - Shigeo Kagayama (aka Mob) is a sweet, shy middle schooler who just happens to have incredibly strong psychic powers. Season 3 just wrapped up on Crunchyroll, and the show is sweet, thoughtful, hilarious, and beautifully animated.
Chainsaw Man - Probably THE hot new anime of the year, Chainsaw Man follows Denji, who becomes the titular Chainsaw Man when his adorable pet demon, Pochita, merges with him to save his life after he’s brutally attacked by the yakuza. All Denji wants is a bed, 3 meals a day, and to touch some boobs, but fighting demons sometimes gets in the way. Another truly gorgeous show with inventive character design and fantastic fight scenes, available to stream on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
My Dress-Up Darling - This one kind of snuck up on me - cute, popular girl wants to cosplay and befriends the shy, hina doll loving boy who happens to know how to sew, and hotness and hilarity ensue. Beneath the familiar tropes and fanservice, though, beats a heart of gold, and I found myself rooting for Marin and Gojo. My favorite shows are ones that are about fundamentally kind people doing their best to be good to each other, and this show is certainly that. Available on Crunchyroll.
Lycoris Recoil - I picked this one up on a whim after hearing some decent reviews, and it quickly became one that I eagerly awaited every week. In a future Japan, the Lycoris, a squad of girls with guns (that old anime staple) quietly keep the peace, taking out all threats with ruthless efficiency while keeping the rest of society in the dark. When lycoris Takina makes a misstep on a mission, she’s expelled from the order and sent to study with the brilliant, but deliberately non-lethal, Chisato, but conspiracies are afoot. It’s a sweet slice of life anime as well as being a thriller that both critiques and enjoys the “girls with guns” genre. Check it out on Crunchyroll if you like deconstructions/reconstructions.
Ranking of Kings - If you only watch one show on this list, make it Ranking of Kings. I don’t want to oversell it, but this show is achingly beautiful, both in the story that it tells - about love, vengeance, forgiveness, and what it takes to survive, and thrive, in a world that isn’t made for you - and in the animation, which has the vivid simplicity of a storybook. At first the show seems to be telling the straightforward story of the deaf Prince Boji, whose small and fragile body contains a fierce heart, and his fight against the wickedness of the world. Ultimately, though, it becomes so much more than that, giving emotional depth and realistic motivations to even the most seemingly cliche character. Truly one of the best shows I’ve ever seen - watch it on Crunchyroll.
1899 - I recapped the first 3 episodes of 1899, Netflix’s follow up to the German brain-bender Dark, here, and I promise that one of these days I’ll finish writing the rest of them. This puzzle of a show keeps you guessing from beginning to end, and even if you see the twist in the last episode coming, there’s no doubt in my mind that we haven’t yet seen how deep the rabbit hole goes. I’m already waiting with bated breath for season 2.
Movies
Is anyone else getting kind of burnt out on Marvel movies? I think I saw most of the ones that came out this year - Thor, Wakanda Forever, Dr. Strange - but none of them were nearly as fun as their immediate predecessors, and I’m not all that excited to see how this new multiverse phase plays out. Top Gun was entertaining at the time, but not particularly memorable, and the new Avatar was similarly ok while I was watching it, but gets dumber the more I think about it. There were, however, a couple of movies that truly delighted and surprised me this year.
Everything Everywhere All At Once - This is one multiverse of madness that I’d actually like to visit again. This was one of the most popular movies of the year, and for good reason - it really does throw everything at you all at once, including interdimensional travel, hot dog fingers, some spectacular outfits, and inventive fight scenes, and grounds it in an emotionally resonant story about mothers and daughters. I haven’t stopped thinking about this movie since I saw it 3 months ago, and I’m dying to watch it again.
Glass Onion - One of the last movies that I saw in theaters before the pandemic shut everything down was Knives Out, the inventive and fiendishly fun Agatha Christie style murder mystery starring Daniel Craig as famed private detective Foghorn Leghorn Benoit Blanc. Craig and director Rian Johnson are back with a follow up that’s just as deliciously clever and funny, as well as timely - with Elon Musk melting down all over Twitter, tech bros are ripe for a skewering.
Books
Not all of these came out this year, but they have all found a home in my head this year.
Matrix by Lauren Groff - I haven’t actually quite finished this one yet, but it would have to absolutely mangle the landing not to be one of the best books that I read this year. Marie - a giant of a woman, and the bastard half-sister to William the Conqueror - is sent away from court and to an impoverished abbey in the middle of nowhere, she at first dreams of escape, but quickly finds that the abbey is one of the few places where a woman like her can have power and safety. This book is mystical, queer, a little anachronistic, and utterly enthralling.
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers - If you’ve even been stuck at an airport and found yourself bonding with your fellow travelers, you might find something to relate to in The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. Four travelers - none of them human, although their emotions and relationships certainly are - find themselves stranded at the galactic equivalent of a truck stop after a freak accident stops all travel. Everyone longs for something they don’t have (freedom, contact with their children, a safe home world), and as they get to know each other, their differing experiences bring them into conflict. Sensitive, funny, and grounded, this may be one of the most humane books that I’ve read in recent years, despite the lack of human characters.
Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky - If my last recommendation was an art house masterpiece, Shards of Earth is the blockbuster. 70 years after humans and other sentient races joined forces beat back a (literally) earth-shattering enemy known as The Architects, they now find themselves at odds with each other and on the brink of war. Now, though, it seems that the enemy has returned. A genetically engineered soldier reunites with the psychic who helped end the war to try and head of disaster for a second time, but political intrigue may stand in the way of fighting back effectively this time around. This book has it all - epic battles, politics, Lovecraftian horrors, and just a smidge of romance. The sequel, Eyes of the Void, came out earlier this year, and I’m very excited to catch up.
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik - Naomi Novik is one of my absolute favorite authors - her books Uprooted and Spinning Silver, both retellings of eastern European folktales with a feminist bent, blew my find a few years ago, and I’m always ready for a new book from her. The Golden Enclaves is the 3rd and final book in the Scholomance trilogy, and it’s… well, Harry Potter/The Magicians, but the main character is a dark sorceress of almost unimaginable power who, seemingly against the wishes of the universe at large, does NOT want to destroy the world. Books 1&2 focus on her time at the school, and book 3 wraps things up as her actions at the school ripple out into the world beyond, and she sets out to create a new, more equitable order.
Music/Podcasts
Criminal by Ptazeta and BZRP - For the first time in many years, Madder Mortem was not my top band on Spotify this year! This time it went to queer Spanish artist PtaZeta, whose vibrant blend of trap, rap, and reggeton burrowed into my brain and set my feet tapping all year.
Snuggles by Devin Townsend - On the flip side, this album by prog metal god Devin Townsend lulls me to sleep every night. It might be a surprise, coming from a man who’s better known for blast beats and sickening guitar riffs, but this ambient album makes me feel like I’m sinking into a bed of clouds.
Sloppy Seconds with Big Dipper and Meatball - If you like drag or queer culture, you should love Sloppy Seconds. Hilarious, irreverant, and super gay, these two talk about food, sex, and pop culture, along with answering listener questions and interviewing other gay icons.
Not Past It - This podcast, by host Simone Polanen, explores topics that you might never have heard of, as well as reframing more familiar stories in a more feminist light. I particularly like their Domino episodes, where they explore the ongoing impacts of things that we might not think about much, like how tea and the annexation of Hong Kong led, ultimately, to Nic Cage’s Face/Off.
Tides of History - I’m sure I’ve recommended this podcast before; I’ve listened to it for years, and the host, Patrick Wyman, does a great job making history accessible. It’s not all just kings and queens; in the most recent season, which covers pre-history from the earliest origins of humankind through the Bronze Age collapse, he explores climate, the development of agriculture, and what exactly we mean when we talk about things like “civilization” or “a city.” He digs deep enough into his topics to make you feel well informed while still taking a broad view of history around the world.
Slate’s Culture Gabfest and Political Gabfest - As more and more sites put their articles behind a paywall, one news site that’s worth subscribing to is Slate. I listen to both of these podcasts (which are available for free, but with ads, on most streaming services, and are ad free if you’re a Slate subscriber) pretty much the moment they drop; they’re informative, entertaining, and help me feel up to date on what’s going on in pop culture and politics.
Cosplays
Bowsette - It may have started out as something basic to pull out of a bag, but after all the customizing I did on this one, it’s unique, comfortable, and perfect for me.
Inosuke - Another basic cosplay that benefited greatly from a custom top and some work on the wig. I finally got the boar head to go with it, so new pics of this one are definitely happening in 2023.
Jolyne Kujoh - I remember the first time I saw Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures; I thought to myself, “the character design is ridiculous, who would want to cosplay that?” Well, it grows on you.
Kars - I’m not a seamstress, or even a particularly crafty person, so I love this one mostly because I made it myself!
Misc.
Decorating my new apartment - This summer I moved into a new apartment, and this fall I decided that I wanted to make it feel like a true reflection of my tastes and interests. It’s a blend of maximalism and cottagecore, and I love how cozy, colorful, and dreamy it feels when I turn on my string lights, light a scented candle, and curl up with a book.
Going to the gym 3-5x a week for the whole year - There were a couple of weeks here and there where I didn’t make my exercise goals, but for the most part I was really consistent about getting into the gym 3-5 days a week. It’s been a bright point in a tough year, and in moments where I felt like nothing in my life was going right or under control, it was something that I could still do for myself. Plus it makes me look hot!
Starting antidepressants - Speaking of things that I needed to do for myself, starting Zoloft was one of the best decisions I made all year. I’ve been dealing with anxiety and depression for a long time, and while I often know the right path to take, it can be difficult to actually do it when I’m overwhelmed by my emotions. It’s not all smooth sailing, but over the past couple of months it’s been easier to keep my head above water.
