2018 Year End Recap

This particular blog post, unlike the rest of its type, does not have the usual first part that documents what was supposedly published here on this blog in 2018, because I literally published nothing; I don't believe I even drafted anything. There are several reasons for this, and while to the (yet-to-be-confirmed) casual blog viewers here, I'm probably this really vague blob of something lmao (since there's hardly any personal info), I'ma share a little to give at least parts of the picture:

• Had to retire my iPhone 4S at some point after Feburary due to battery health. Not a fun thing to get used to, when the nature of syncing was no longer the same, and couldn't access my iTunes stuff because it's on an even older device that isn't worth upgrading. It was also because of this device-switch that prevented me from accessing my NetGalley ARCs via my phone. I used to be able to cram in some books over time as I commuted back and forth from home to school, and could no longer do so.
• My MacBook Pro had recurring issue since it was getting old.
• Walked my commencement ceremony on May 10. For most people like myself, we all still had classes! It was sad in a way that my parents flew all the way to attend, and we barely had time to spend together. When not in class, I was in the Mac Lab taking full advantage, since my device just couldn't handle the workload. That said, the environment there was helpful.
• You thought I'd be free after the semester ended? Nah, I walked first, and still had classes during Summer semester. Then my school did this rediculous thing, reducing Lab opening hours for Summer, making life hard. Had to borrow my sister's HP, which is even more ancient than my unstable MacBook Pro.
• One of my classes didn't work out, so I was still in school during Fall. Both my laptop and the HP refused to cooperate not long after the semester started. My laptop did die at one point, and I think the recovery was unable to retrieve my iBooks bookmarks, highlights etc. This likely further contributed to my hiatus here on this blog, because one of the books I read had enough material for [Food in Books] and the data was just all gone so.
• I know I was still taking advantage of the Lab at least on December 19, because that was the rare moment I actually posted something on my social media. I remember working to the very last day of the semester though. FYI, it wasn't just this blog, I was honestly quiet in 2018 on Facebook, too.
• Not to be misleading, I did have another hobbie that kept me entertained during this stressful year, I played Hogwarts Mystery.

This very post itself, is, unsurprisingly, actually published in 2021 and backdated. Looking back though, I'm glad everything adds up, as in, it really wasn't like I picked hobbies over my future. I'm able to recount the above because that really was the gist of my life in 2018. Might sound a bit depressing, but the important part is that it's over lol. I did successfully get my diploma, hehe. And that's like the biggest glimpse of myself I ever revealed here on this blog, other than the "About Moi" post, haha.

2018 Reading Challenge

Sammm has completed her goal of reading 10 books in 2018!

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80 of 80 (100%)

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Anyhow, here comes the second purpose of the post, muahaha. On Goodreads, there's the My Year in Books function they provided that give some statistics, [check out mine for 2018!] (My GR profile is set for GR Users only, so this one, you'd have to login in order to view.) There's also the Goodreads Year in Review, [read mine!] (no GR account required.) I only whipped up the latter after I finished putting together the one for 2019! Really wasn't kidding about being busy.

So what's different here is that I'm going to rank what I've read, but limited to series that concluded or standalones, extras, and compilations published in this year. The amount of books I've read published the same year made it enough for a fun ranking. Ladies and gents, drum roll....!

Note: First books of series represent said entire series. I know the cut-off was the final book, but I believe people are usually more familiar with the cover and title of first installments so.

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6. 

In case people don't feel like counting, there are 15 series and standalones in total. That said, there's at least 2 series that, as of 2021/4/12, I have yet to have time shelving. The list may eventually be updated. The reason why some have been stacked, is because, 1 per slot made the ranking list lengthy, which in itself isn't too big of a deal, however, I feel bad for the ones closer to the bottom. It really wasn't like "it's the second to the last place"; trust me, certain gaps are super huge. Since it's still not reflecting well enough, I figure grouping what I feel the similar amount of like, would make me feel less guilty, haha. There you have it!

What series concluded or standalone published in 2018 do you like the most? Feel free to share!

[Film Review] 名偵探柯南：零的執行人

First watch: Dec 3, 2018
First rewatch: May 3, 2025
Content first published on: June 28, 2025
Post duplicated here on: May 2, 2026
Written content here updated on: May 3, 2026 (formatting + minor clarification etc.)

名偵探柯南 零的執行人（原文：名探偵コナン ゼロの執行人，下稱M22）

這一部，我本來以為單純「衰小」（等一下解釋）才會讓我看完的當下覺得不怎麼樣，但今（2025）年重刷，真的就還是覺得不怎麼樣。 衰小的原因是（即，不重要的背景解說）：我大概是2015年前後就沒有看過柯南劇場版了（因為人住海外）（然後也沒有看原作或動畫），而且長久以來看到的最新一集是M16，之後就脫勾。有次回台灣（具體日期：2018/1/29），我跟我表姐（們）說平次後來好少有出現在劇場版，她們還安慰我說有啊 「最近那部」就有（係指M21），算還可以。

上述對話「相對不久後」（2018對我來說是一個很高壓的一年，真的感覺不太到時光流逝😅，其實已經是年初年尾的時間差了），我要飛回美國，發現飛機上有柯南還開心了一下，結果就是這部M22🙄️ 但好歹寫了個什麼票房最高 我就對它有點期待 然後就真不怎樣🤦🏻‍♀️ 我當時完全不知道安室透是誰，但對他也沒有敵意，唯一的印象就是小五郎被栽贓，其他劇情完全都不記得，就這位安室透莫名其妙重要，全劇終。看不懂我為什麼要寫這個的人，基本上，錯不在M22，我期待看到平次、它本來就不是平次的那部，okay沒問題，但我看完真的無法理解為何可以票房最高（其實就是因為安室透吧，但抱歉我至今補完原作也還是不懂他在紅什麼哈）。


今年重刷，其實基本上有點像是第一次看（我真的只記得我上面寫的那些，具體細節完全不記得），代表最初看完給我的印象真的超級薄弱。重刷後，覺得看完會對日本警方（至少公安警察）很不信任吧我的天啊（已經不記得當時覺得難看的原因是不是這個，但我可以說，現在這是我覺得難看的主要原因）真的是偽證耶！由犯人栽贓就算了，結果是為了要調查才有警方栽贓，這真的超不okay吧囧 大概就這樣。老實說我本來是真的蠻希望重刷後會改觀，但真的還是無感。

（以下新增）不過我還是要說，它是有值得讚美的地方的，別看我前面一直「無感」、「沒印象」，我前面已經直接寫出來了，我自己很清楚2025年重刷時，M22讓我覺得難看的原因，就是因為安室透（降谷零）作為警方但作了偽證這件事情我無法苟同。這點讓我討厭到「想到M22就生氣」😂 看有多嚴重笑死。但2026年決定搬到網誌的時候，當背景重刷（我Netflix有上架的都會這樣啦，不是只有M22），還是要客觀的說，它還是有帶來一些不一樣的... 亮點？劇中的物聯網（Internet of Things, IoT）攻擊，我不太確定首映當年是不是就已經有可能發生，但至少現在來講，好像沒那麼「這怎麼可能發生」。