The Newsletter Leaf Journal CCXXI 〜 221 days of newsletter
Newsletter Leaf Journal 221 features links to our new articles on NBC-U's marketing plans and 40 Days and 40 Nights of Rain, a mid-2000s visual novel. We then work through 21 links from around the web, our most-visited articles of the week, and what readers can look forward to in the last week of February.
Welcome to the 221st 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 administrator and editor of The New Leaf Journal and the administrator of its short-form writing sister publication, The Emu Café Social, Nicholas A. Ferrell. I only managed to publish a few new posts due to again being busy last week. This newsletter will begin with links to those posts before moving on to links from around the web and other news and notes.
Leaves from the week that was
I published two new New Leaf Journal leaves since mailing Newsletter 220.
First, I expressed some concerns about NBC-Universal's plans to feed them content, with them being paying customers. *See On Peacock's Plan to "feed them content"*. Note that I am not a Peacock customer, so my observations come from afar.
Second, I published a review of the 2007 English language localization of a 2007 freeware Japanese visual novel in 40 Days and 40 Nights of Rain - VN Review. This is actually a review of two visual novels in one -- for it also includes my thoughts on A Happy Valentine, a very short side-story to 40 Days. I had planned to publish this on Valentine's Day, but circumstances intervened, so it made it live six days later than I had planned.
Over on The Emu Café Social, I wrote about learning that Amazon Appstore is -- soon to be was -- available for Android. I also noted my decision to discontinue my Gitea instance due to rising costs.
Leaves from around the web
Despite the fact that my 40 Days review is long, I did not have a busy publishing week. Fortunately, I have 21 links from around the web to ensure that our newsletter readers are not left wanting.
Better late than never
Visual Arts/Key's AIR Visual Novel Gets Steam Release in English on March 5
Crystalyn Hodgkins for Anime News Network. February 14, 2025.
One reason I was inspired to review the mid-2000s al|together visual novel localizations was because, as I noted, there were not many officially localized Japanese visual novels back in the day. Now Air, which pre-dates every al|together visual novel, prepares to make its (official) English debut a quarter century after it was first released in Japan. (For whatever it's worth I watched the 2005 anime adaptation of Air and liked the aesthetics, if not the overall execution.)
Judge Bibas: "Wisdom does not always find me, so I try to embrace it when it does—even if it comes late, as it did here"
Josh Blackman for The Volokh Conspiracy. February 11, 2025.
His newfound wisdom was correct.
Sometimes America gets the good stuff; other times it doesn't
McDonald’s releases new Pokémon Happy Meals, but in the U.S., not Japan
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. January 21, 2025.
Back in my day, Japan got all the cool stuff. The tables have TURNED.
Polish general fired after anti-tank mines found in Ikea warehouse
J.D. Simkins for DefenseNews. January 17, 2025.
Why didn't Ikea have the good stuff when I went in June?
Bordering on borders
Human Smuggler Testifies He Brought 500 Indian Migrants Across U.S.-Canada Border in Four Years
Bob Price for Breitbart. November 25, 2024.
The smuggler was also in the United States illegally after multiple illegal entries but he will now be allowed to remain in the United States and work legally in exchange for his testimony against his partners in smuggling. Now who said crime doesn't pay?
Spanish Migrant Gets Deported After Suffering Frostbite While Illegally Crossing Canadian Border
Bob Price for Breitbart. February 21, 2025.
I doubt there are many people from Visa Waiver Program-eligible countries trying to sneak over the U.S.-Canada border.
Cat food and cats and food
Our feline reporters test out Japan’s soup for cats to find if it makes for a purrfect treat
Elliot Hale for SoraNews24. February 20, 2025.
I'm confused by the fruits and vegetables given the target audience.
Meet the shop cats of Hong Kong’s Sheung Wan district
Isaac Muk and Erica for Huck Magazine. February 17, 2025.
I get that the cats protect the dried fish from the rats. But who or what protects the dried fish from the cats?
I warned everyone
After being stunned by the cold, sea turtles return to the Atlantic Ocean off Florida
Associated Press (via The Washington Times). February 18, 2025.
Four years ago it was Texas.
Guterres to request U.N. assumes funding for mission fighting Haiti gangs
Danica Coto for the Associated Press (via The Washington Times). February 20, 2025.
Back in Newsletter Leaf Journal 156, I shared a link to a story titled UN Security Council approves Haiti security mission led by Kenya and commented "File this away in 'things that can only end well.'" The file grows.
Answering questions with questions
Is Al Jazeera Providing Material Support to Hamas?
Toby Dershowitz and Eitan Fischberger for RealClear World. February 18, 2025.
Am I providing you with a free-of-cost newsletter?
Inside State-Run 'Bias-Response Hotlines,' Where Fellow Citizens Can Report Your 'Offensive Joke'
Aaron Sibarium for The Washington Free Beacon. January 22, 2025.
Can you report the hotlines as an offensive joke?
Syri-ous about Syria
Some Syrian jihadist fighters sent to Libya for combat operations by Turkey made their way to Europe
Abdullah Bozkurt for Nordic Monitor. February 10, 2025.
NATO will have to figure out how to protect its members from NATO member Turkey.
Turkistan Islamic Party leader directs Syrian fighters from Afghanistan
Bill Roggio for Long War Journal. February 14, 2025.
We will know Syria is really on the mend when the leaders of all of its terrorist factions relocate from Afghanistan.
Geopolitics
China Doesn’t Want to Lead an Axis: Beijing’s Deep Doubts About Russia and North Korea
Serge Radchenko for Foreign Affairs. February 18, 2025.
Interesting essay, especially in its analysis of how China views the nuclear North Korea situation.
Armed Neutrality for Ukraine Is NATO’s Least Poor Option
Jennifer Kavanagh and Christopher McCallion for War on the Rocks. February 18, 2025.
Fair enough take that I will look past their using Midjourney to generate the featured image.
The Sort of Alliance: India and America Keep Getting Closer
Andrew Latham for 1945. February 18, 2025.
Good piece but how are we missing the Bangladesh issue here?
No thank you, I'm full
71-year-old Japanese man who “wanted to look cool” robbed 63 houses, treated strangers to sushi
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. January 27, 2025.
I would say he should have had the decency to treat the strangers he robbed to sushi, but I don't believe in sushi. It's indecent. We have fire for a reason. Cook the fish.
Crow isn't the only thing they eat at a wild game dinner in rural Pennsylvania
Mark Scolforo for the Associated Press (via The Washington Times). February 21, 2025.
I'm not game for game.
Wisconsin pizzeria owner apologizes for accidentally serving marijuana-laced food
Brad Matthews for The Washington Times. October 26, 2024.
I think restaurants have been shuttered for less than poisoning unwitting customers with a Schedule One controlled substance.
Everything is turning up 90s
ToeJam & Earl's Co-Creator Offers Update On Upcoming Amazon Film
Jack Yarwood for Time Extension. January 14, 2025.
We're getting into some very niche 90s game nostalgia now.
'90s Anime 'Samurai Pizza Cats' Is Getting The Action RPG Treatment Next Year
Joe Norman for Nintendo Life. February 20, 2025.
Samurai Pizza Cats is technically the first anime I watched. Set aside any questions about whether the early-to-mid-90s English dub I watched somewhere in the area of 1995-97 had much (if anything) in common with the Japanese script.
Super Mario World vinyl soundtrack planned for late April
Jerry for The Ongaku. January 17, 2025.
Let it be said they mean Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo.
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics (see my 2022 review) 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, I present the five most-visited articles of 2025 Newsletter Week 8 (February 15-21) with 2025 and historic (going back to 2021) ranking information for each of the five articles.
(1.) Examining Whether Defense Wins NBA Championships
N.A. Ferrell. July 9, 2024.
2025: 6 appearances and 3 top placements.
Historic: 10 appearances and 4 top placements.
(2.) Kaori After Story – Visual Novel Review
N.A. Ferrell. December 31, 2022.
2025: 6 appearances and 2 top placements.
Historic: 7 appearances and 2 top placements.
(3.) January 2025 Look at Pixelfed Social
N.A. Ferrell. January 29, 2025.
2025: 4 appearances.
(4.) The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei
N.A. Ferrell. March 14, 2021.
2025: 2 appearances.
Historic: 155 appearances and 75 top placements.
(5.) An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search
N.A. Ferrell. October 18, 2022.
2025: 7 appearances.
Historic: 53 appearances and 18 top placements.
Analysis
In a rare-but-not-unprecedented occurrence, we return our entire top-five from last week, but with positions two and three swapping places and positions four and five doing the same. We had a better overall week 8 than week 7 but a weaker top of the ranking. The latter point contributed to our having the closest race for the top spot in 2025, with my NBA champions study narrowly shading my review of Kaori After Story for its third consecutive top placement.
News Leaf Journal
I have only published eight February articles thus far and the first should really count for January instead, but despite having two work assignments due by the end of the week, I plan to finish February strong and have a couple of ongoing project ideas I want to prioritize. One example may be finally kicking off a series I introduced on February 27, 2024.
Taking leaf
Thank you as always for reading The Newsletter Leaf Journal. If you are not already a regular reader, I invite you to subscribe to our weekly email, add our newsletter's RSS feed to your favorite feed reader (see explaination), or browse our full newsletter archive at your leisure (note it also has a very nice full-text search bar).
They say that March comes in like a lion (which also happens to be the title of the best anime of the previous decade), and I can only work toward mailing you a lion of a newsletter to welcome March next Saturday.
Until March 1,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.