I’ve been reading a lot.

I’ve been diving back into books I used to read years ago. There’s something comforting about revisiting stories that once felt like home. But at the same time, it’s a strange experience. I’ve realized how much I’ve forgotten; not just plot details, but the feelings and connections I had with these stories back then. It’s like opening an old photo album and struggling to remember why certain moments felt so important.
One thing that’s caught me off guard, though, is rereading graphic novels and manga. I’ll get excited about revisiting a series I loved, only to come across fan service scenes I’d completely forgotten about. It’s weird, and honestly, it rubs me the wrong way.
Fan service feels so out of place most of the time. It’s like the creators hit pause on the plot to throw in something provocative but leave no substance when it’s just boobs with a mental flavor of a lemon slice, it’s stupid. It’s distracting, distasteful, and honestly, just plain unnecessary. Why not use that time to develop the characters or build the world instead?
The frustrating part is that many of these stories are so good otherwise. They use terrible cheap tricks to hold your attention. It’s a shame when a powerful moment or a meaningful arc gets overshadowed by something so out of place.
Despite that, rereading these books has reminded me why I loved them in the first place. It mixes nostalgia, rediscovery, and the occasional cringe-worthy surprise. But maybe that makes revisiting old stories so interesting you see them in different ways to be interesting in ways you didn’t before.