Newsletter Leaf Journal CCI 〜 September snow
Issue 201 of The Newsletter Leaf Journal covers our new four-part analysis of May Sky (a visual novel), other new articles on NLJ and ECS, and 21 links from around the web on everything from old video game consoles to foreign affairs.
Welcome to the 201st edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. This newsletter comes to you as always from the FILCO Majestitouch v3 keyboard of the administrator and editor of The New Leaf Journal and The Emu Café Social, Nicholas A. Ferrell. In terms of pure word count, we had one of the busiest weeks ever at The New Leaf Journal -- although as I previewed in last week's newsletter, the majority of words were written two weeks ago. We have plenty to cover in Newsletter 201, so let's get to it.
Leaves from the week that was
I published a likely record-setting 9 articles since mailing Newsletter 200, but the first 6 were related to a single project and were published on the same day. We will get to those after I discuss our three newest articles.
On September 23, I wrote about rescuing an ailanthus webworm moth on the wall adjacent to the stairwell of my apartment building. (I like to think this was almost as heroic as Victor V. Gurbo's great pigeon rescue.) The rescue story itself would have been short, so I researched the bug that I saved.
Next, I wrote about a story on new YouTube pause screen ads. I did not know about these ads, but I used the story as a starting point to look at several related issues I have, including describing visitors to a site as users and the tendency of big platforms to figure out just how annoying they can be without hurting the bottom line.
I wrote a full review of the recently completed Days With My Stepsister anime. Readers may recall that in August I published an article about the excellent aesthetics in the otherwise middling show (along with its treatment of hair color). I had not planned to review the whole series, but I decided that I might as well having already hammered out a good number of keyboard strikes about the show. It is certainly far from the best anime I have looked at (the view I expressed around the half-way mark did not change dramatically in the final analysis), but I tried to approach the story from some interesting angles.
My big project of the week was a four-part analysis of May Sky, the 2008 English-language localization of a 2005 Japanese visual novel called Gogatsu no Sora. I originally reviewed May Sky in May 2022 as part of a project to review the 31 English language localizations of freeware Japanese visual novels which were completed as part of the three al|together Festivals in 2005, 2006, and 2008. In January of this year, I wrapped up the main part of the project with a ranking of the 31 al|together novels, wherein I gave May Sky the honor of the number-one position. I had long planned to write an analysis of the story in May Sky, having first hatched the idea around the time I wrote the original review. I finally started putting it together in August and planned to publish it last month (which would have been symbolic for multiple reasons), but circumstances intervened, so it transmogrified into a September project. A small part of me was tempted to put it off until August 2025 to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Gogatsu no Sora, but I decided to resist that temptation (given the groundwork I had started laying last month) and will save a different project for the 20th anniversary in 2025.
My May Sky analysis comes in four parts, each covering a quarter of the visual novel in in-game chronological order. The first three parts of my review cover the main (or May) section of the novel, with part one also including an introduction to the project. The second part covers the initial conflicts between the two main characters and the longer third part looks at the most dramatic part of May Sky. The fourth and final section of my analysis looks at the epilogue chapter of May Sky and indirectly explains why I had planned to publish the review in August. I wrote the analysis primarily for people who have read May Sky or want to use my analysis as a story companion (which is possible since I go in chronological order), and I recommend reading it in this way since May Sky is entirely free and relatively easy to run (except perhaps on newer Apple computers with M-processors). However, the analysis is comprehensive enough that one can read it and learn about the story of May Sky without the source material -- although I would only recommend reading it in this way if you are certain you will never read the original visual novel. I suppose another option would be to use the first part of the analysis to see if you think May Sky is worth your while -- a fair compromise since nothing too dramatic happens in the events covered by part 1.
My May Sky analysis yielded two spin-off projects. In Evidence That May Sky VN Begins in May 2005, I explained why I am reasonably confident that the events of May Sky begin in May 2005 despite the fact that the text of the novel never explicitly says as much. In Localizing Japanese High School Classes, I offer a rare translation critique (understandably rare because I do not read Japanese) of how May Sky handles the high school year description of one of May Sky's two main characters.
Finally, I wrote a May Sky collection article which is now included as a link in individual May Sky posts. I will keep this updated with any new articles about May Sky and a couple of non-May Sky articles that are nevertheless relevant to to the novel's themes (see example). I do have three future May Sky-related articles in mind, but only one is likely to be published in the near future.
Before moving on to our sister site, I will take the opportunity to note that while May Sky, which was localized by circle Insani for the 2008 al|together Festival, is my favorite of the 31 al|together visual novels, it is not my favorite Insani-localized visual novel. That honor goes to True Remembrance, which I reviewed back in February of this year. That will also see further coverage in the coming months, so consider it a bonus recommendation.
I did not publish much on The Emu Café Social last week (you can see why from the large NLJ output). I made fun of a recent news article for its struggling to identify an obvious motive. I then wrote an post about an anime that, unlike Days With My Stepsister, was too middling to be carried by excellent animation (see post). In my Activity Stream, I complained about a barking dog which was bothering me while I was trying to put the finishing touches in the May Sky articles.
Leaves from around the web
If you are reading all of my May Sky articles this week, you will probably not have much time to check in on the rest of the internet. But since I am sure most of you will take the time to read the original visual novel first, I will make sure that you have some internet articles to read as well.
The job market
Destined for clicks: YouTube is driving an astrology boom in Pakistan
Eva Redamonti for Rest of World. September 17, 2024.
I would not recommend a career as an astrologist in Pakistan.
Canada’s Low-Wage Immigration Problem
Michael Bonner for City Journal. September 16, 2024.
I could see how these numbers may have a negative effect on the wages of Canadian citizens.
Doing battle with rodents
Foraging for America's Forgotten Fruit
Sam O'Brien for Atlas Obscura. September 23, 2024.
Intriguing but I don't want to tangle with a possum for a snack.
Poland’s Donald Tusk declares war on beavers
Csongor Koromi for Politico EU. September 24, 2024.
Smart move by Poland to flex its military muscles to make sure that Putin knows it is ready for anything.
Headlines that miss the point
College Board: Testing surged after switching to digital SAT, but scores kept dropping
Sean Salal for The Washington Times. September 25, 2024.
"But"
Analysis: The Houthis have challenged the Rules-Based International System and must be defeated
Edmund Fitton-Brown for Long War Journal. September 23, 2024.
As I noted in ECS, I second the goal but not the reason in the headline. Of course, the article itself is better than the headline.
I Am Tired of AI
Bas Dijkstra for OnTestAutomation. September 17, 2024.
This will help the large language models give better answers to prompts about AI being tiresome.
Business decisions
After Pledging To Leave Moscow Over Ukraine War, Tobacco Giant PMI Stays Put—and Rakes In Billions From Russian Sales
Adam Kredo for The Washington Free Beacon. September 23, 2024.
Someone spoke before remembering how many Russians smoke.
Nike Has Refused the Caitlin Clark Windfall
Ethan Strauss at House of Strauss. September 24, 2024.
Nike is a bizarre company.
Never tried but would try
Japanese rice-flour donut line added to permanent menu at Krispy Kreme Japan
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. September 27, 2024.
Interesting. I can understand why this could work.
Nutty Parmesan, briny capers and pickled peppers turn cauliflower steaks into a satisfying main
Christopher Kimball for AP (via The Washington Times). September 23, 2024.
Those do look very good.
KEEP IT AWAY FROM ME ... I mean "no thank you"
You want the whole crab? Japan’s Dom Dom will give it to you, and curry too, in Marugoto Kani Burger
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. September 22, 2024.
No thank you. Please keep anything with curry outside my olfactory range. -NAF
Military adventures in Africa
The U.S. Misadventure in Niger Is a Wake-Up Call - The American Conservative
Rand Paul for The American Conservative. September 25, 2024.
Interesting op-ed from the Senator from Kentucky albeit there are a few arguments in the second half I would disagree with.
US troops heading back to Chad?
Dan M. Ford for Responsible Statecraft. September 22, 2024.
Starting to feel uncomfortably close to a world power taking orders from Chad.
Missed opportunities
The Brilliance of “Operation Grim Beeper”
Michael Doran for Hudson Institute. September 20, 2024.
I can't believe I didn't think of "grim beeper."
Washington DC is Not a Popularity Contest
Tanner Greer at The Scholar's Stage. September 27, 2024.
I never confused a swamp with a popularity contest.
See what I just did there?
Justice Kavanaugh Warns Against Over-Reading Loper Bright Decision
Jonathan H. Adler at The Volokh Conspiracy. September 27, 2024.
Your over-reading will not be entitled to administrative deference.
Kazakhstan launches program to reintroduce tigers to lost habitat
Almaz Kumenov for Eurasianet. September 26, 2024.
Good thing they're not telling the tigers to find the lost habitat.
New York resident with state’s first case of mosquito-borne EEE virus in nearly a decade has died
Olivia Land for New York Post. September 24, 2024.
Remember me as I should have been.
Tenant Leader Who Once Ripped ‘Predatory’ Roc Nation Casino Bid Was Offered $20,000 Monthly Contract from Jay-Z Owned Company
Gwynne Hogan for The City. September 23, 2024.
She may go so far as to say she won the lottery.
The Epoch Cassette Vision: Has Games
Nicole Brantigan at Nicole Express. September 22, 2024.
I should hope so since it was a game console.
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics to track page hits. In each issue of the newsletter, I list our five most-visited articles, according to Koko Analytics, for the one-week period beginning with Saturday and ending with Friday. Below, you will find the most-visited articles of 2024 Newsletter Week 39 (September 21 through 27). I will include 2024 and historic (which runs through the first week of 2021) ranking information for each article.
(1) The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei
Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 14, 2021.
15 appearances and 6 top placements in 2024; 147 and 75 overall.
(2) An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search
Nicholas A. Ferrell. October 18, 2022.
21 appearances and 5 top placements in 2024; 33 and 10 overall.
(3) Click Switch: FOSS Android Game Review
Nicholas A. Ferrell. September 12, 2024.
First appearance.
(4) Broken Optical Audio Cable Door "Fix"
Nicholas A. Ferrell. September 16, 2023.
5 appearances in 2024 & overall.
(5) Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2
Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 5, 2023.
19 appearances and 9 top placements in 2024 & overall.
My tsuki ga kirei article narrowly repeated as the top newsletter week article for its sixth top placement of 2024 and 75th going back to May 2021 -- holding off my Norton Safe Search article, which closed the week on a good run. Everyone spent much of the week chasing my very new review of an open source Android game called Click Switch, which received a boost after being shared by the developer early in the week. The top five was rounded out by two more usual suspects -- I will submit that the broken optical audio cable article seems due for a top placement at some point and my Angel Next Door good planning article is still very much in the mix to become just the fourth article to notch 10 top placements in a single year. On the whole, newsletter week 39 was one of our better weeks of 2024 thanks to strong Google numbers, but we are still seeing weaker numbers with the Bing-based search tools (apparently we cannot be good everywhere at the same time).
Taking leaf
This newsletter is long enough, so I will wrap things up here. I hope you enjoy all the links. If you have not done so already, you can subscribe to this newsletter via email, add its RSS feed to your favorite feed reader, or simply check in on the newsletter archive once a week or whenever you want something to read (see all of the options). I already have a good number of article drafts ready to go for the coming days and I am working on a couple of big projects that I look forward to sharing soon.
Until October,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.