I’ve discovered if there’s anything I’m worse at than updating this blog, it’s actually achieving my 2016 Challenges. I had such a promising start to the year, but since then… Oh boy.
Let’s revisit each challenge and find out where I am! (Clue: not on target)
Watch 30 anime series from start to finish
“It’ll be easy”, I said. “You watch so much anime, you’ll get that one done”, my housemate said. HOW WRONG WE WERE. This year to date, almost half way through May, I’ve managed to watch 4 series; Sword Art Online S1, Prince of Stride: Alternative, Kuroko No Basuke S1, and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. What’s going wrong? I don’t even know. I love anime, I watch it pretty much all the time when I’m at home, but there’s something about having to do something that makes it so much less appealing. I also severely underestimated how long some series’ can be. I’m currently trying to boost my numbers by watching a lot of 12 episode anime, so hopefully I can get back on track with this one.
Platinum 24 games
Maybe 4 is my unlucky number, as I’m also stuck on 4 for the platinum trophy challenge. My housemate upped the ante on this one, and also simultaneously challenged me that he could get more platinum trophies than me. It pains me to say, he’s actually winning with 5 platinums to my 4. Joining Life Is Strange on my platinum list are Amnesia: Memories (finally figured out what I was doing wrong), Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ and LEGO Jurassic World. Despite being 6 platinums behind schedule, I’m still naively confident about achieving this one.
Watch 80 movies in the cinema
Hey, remember back at the end of January when I was all, “I’m doing really well on this one, going to smash it”, well, that was pretty foolish. I’m a quarter of the way through this challenge, having watched 20 movies in the cinema. I’ll spare you the list of what I’ve seen, but you can check out what I’ve seen by using the Twitter hashtag #cultureshack2016challenge. I think it’s still achievable, but my 20 movies need to quadruple themselves in the next 8 months.
Read 24 books
On paper (haha) this one seems like it would be hardest, least to me, anyway – reading books is time-consuming! I set my quota for this one using the GoodReads challenge system, and have logged everything I’ve read. Now, GoodReads is telling me I’ve read 15 out of my 24 books, all thanks to manga, which it counts as a contribution towards the end goal. If GoodReads counts manga, then so do I! Ridiculously confident about this one, but I’ve been burned before (I’m looking at you, movie challenge).
Create 5 new cosplays
MCM London is in two and a half weeks, the first big cosplaying con in my year. I’ve decided to go for 3 new cosplays for the event, and I’ve not finished a single one. A photo of my proposed roster is below, so fingers crossed it all comes together! I’ve got Nekozawa from Ouran High School Host Club, Yamaguchi from Haikyuu!!, and Negan from The Walking Dead. Each day, I’ve got at least one person cosplaying with me, which is a first for me, and I’ve got a couple of shoots planned, so I’m really excited about MCM this time around!
Writing this, I’ve realised the moral of the story is that I really need to pull my finger out if I’m going to meet all these challenges! Let’s see how the next month goes…
Culture Shack 