“I remember when I was younger in middle school I begged my grandma to buy me a copy of Brisignr (of the Ergaon series) that I saw at Ralphs. I thought the gold dragon was really cool and that was really the only reason I wanted it. So impressions matter! I never actually read the book because I only then found out there were two preceding books I hadn’t read yet.. Though, it did get me to read Eragon which was a really nice fantasy book, so it worked out in my favor. Perhaps now that I’m older I’ll finally get to it..”

Rating: 🌓 = first quarter = 👍👍

“I think the worst ending I read was from the manga, Kitchen Princess. The main build up of the story is the love triangle between the 2 brothers and the main character, Najika. I think the story really dove for worse when they suddenly killed off one of the brothers in a car accident! I feel like he was the more popular one fans rooted for but his story was cut short and unnecessarily (in my opinion). I don’t know if it was the author’s idea or editor’s decision. Perhaps sales for the manga weren’t doing well and they felt they had to do such a twist to gain attention? The story lost itself to me and I’m sure many others after this point. The tone also shifted darkly from a flowery baking shoujo to a somber tone. I’ll be honest, this isn’t truly the ending of the story but it was the ending for me because I could not continue reading afterwards.“

Rating: 🌒 = waxing crescent= 👍

“Probably one of the worst endings I’ve ever seen in a story was the ending of the TV series Game of Thrones. No spoilers here, but in the first 6 seasons the character development and world building was incredibly rich. However, they fell into the pitfall of outpacing the source material, and the directors had to take it into their own hands. The last two seasons were hyper condensed, the ending felt incredibly rushed, and characters who were built for literally years just took a left turn and got completely ruined. I feel like it’s a common pitfall for TV series where they need to wrap up due to airing constraints, and the writing feels like it was written just to end it. I was hooked at first but got completely disinterested at the end. A huge shame honestly!”

Rating: 🌓 = first quarter = 👍👍

“For this month’s question, I thankfully don’t think I’ve read a story where I’ve been unsatisfied with the ending…at least not yet. There may have been instances where I feel that the ending could have been better, but nothing that made me feel betrayed or as though the book/novel/manga was not worth the read. However, when it comes to other forms of media, I feel like interpreting endings can become very subjective…It does often make me think and reflect on what the author’s intentions were and why they wrote the ending that they did.“

Rating: 🌒 = waxing crescent= 👍

“Although I can be drawn to characters with varying personalities, I think I’m most drawn to characters who are kind, innocent or selfless. Maybe because their purity stands against a typically corrupted and dark world in their stories. You just want to root for them and protect them! Examples are Kageyama Shigeo from Mob Psycho 100 and Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket. More relevantly, the Pokemon in the game, Pokemon Pokopia, have melted my heart! This game gives them dialogue so the Pokemon have personality and they’re just so darling and sweet. They frequently give you their thanks and gift you presents. On the opposite spectrum, I can like characters who are angry, powerful, and justice-hungry. They may seem loud and short-fused, but it’s for a cause. I personally can’t stand injustice so I think I morally connect to these characters. It’s also satisfying to see them win against the evils of the world. I guess both spectrums of characters give me hope that the world can be saved somewhat. When real life can feel bleak, seeing characters that remind you of humanity can motivate or inspire you.”

Rating: 🌔 = waxing gibbous = 👍👍👍

“I feel the same way with characters that resonate with me! One character I really love is Gojo from Dress Up Darling. The thing I like about him is how focused he is on his craft throughout the story. There’s a lot going on in his life/school/relationships but I connect with him because of his work ethic and how much he cares about his passion. 🙂“

Rating: 🌓 = first quarter = 👍👍