Pause Menu Musings

Okay, so let’s be honest. A lot of male leads in romance anime are just there. Like, they exist, they blush, they trip and fall into the female lead's bosoms or get dragged around by a much better female character and somehow that’s romance? I’m tired. So here’s a list of five romance anime guys who are actually worth watching. Not perfect, but they either have a personality or grow one. Or at least aren’t just standing there looking confused all season. 1. Kyo Sohma ( Fruits Basket ) This man is just full of feelings and rage and guilt and trauma. When Fruits Basket started, I genuinely thought he was gonna be another loud tsundere guy with nothing behind it. But no. Kyo is going through it and you see every step of it on his face. He’s angry, yes. But he’s not stupid. And when he loves someone, he loves them hard. Like, this boy’s idea of love is protecting them even if it means they hate him. Toxic? A little. Real? Absolutely. What makes him stand out is how much he grows. ...

I grew up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I was 8 when The Avengers came out, and it changed everything. I remember rewatching Captain America: The Winter Soldier like five times in one week. Infinity War was a cultural event in my friend group. For years, Marvel could do no wrong. But around Phase 4, something changed. The movies started feeling rushed or half-baked. Then they added all the Disney+ shows and it just became too much. Every new character needed their own origin story, every storyline had to connect to ten other things. I stopped caring. Not because I didn’t love the characters, but because it all started feeling like homework. But I’ve Always Loved the Old Cartoons Even before the MCU, I was obsessed with old-school Marvel shows. The ‘90s Spider-Man cartoon was my favourite thing as a kid. I had no idea what was going on half the time but I was locked in. Same with the original X-Men animated series, though I caught more reruns of that when I was older. So...