In physics and engineering, exergy is a term which refers to the total amount of usable work that can be gotten out of a stable system after the loss from entropy has been accounted for.

That dry summary of a physics term can only mean a few things: we’re back with another aspect for the vanguard class that plays fast and loose with terms related to entropy!

The vanguard is all about manipulating entropy to be able to absorb the energy of attacks and dish them back out again. This manipulation of entropic energy also lends itself to manipulating other forces as well, specifically entropy’s complementary partner: work.

Essentially, this aspect focuses on the vanguard using their power to maximize the impact of their strikes, directing the energy to every stress point in their target to in turn maximize the destructive results. Ironic that an application of work would be used to improve chaotic breakage, isn’t it? (Or it would be if we didn’t remember that the destruction of the vanguard’s enemies is the desired result)

Technicalities aside, these vanguards are the heavy hitters among a class already full of bruisers, able to overwhelm foes and set up devastating attacks.

Radiating raw power, these warriors can be quite terrifying on the battlefield. What’s more, they are adept at knocking foes over with their strikes.

Using as much energy as possible within a span of time is the staple of these vanguards, so it only makes sense that they can gain a little entropy by attacking repeatedly.

The most impressive power of these vanguards is their catalyst, allowing them to expend energy to afflict all nearby foes with a sort of catalytic curse, an energy field that causes the next attack to transfer energy to all the foe’s stress points, dealing extra damage. If the ability was triggered by their own energy, however, the potential damage becomes considerably more.

Those vanguards that have this aspect as their primary are adept at getting the most out of their weapons, triggering the benefits of their weapon normally reserved for a critical blow when they land strikes that are close, but not quite critical in nature.

This aspect is much more focused on direct damage than even other aspects, dealing it in a unique way by setting up foes for additional extra damage, though not necessarily with the vanguard as the source, letting allies get in on the action. Like most vanguards, you’re going to want to build for getting stuck into melee combat quickly, or midrange if you take entropic shot. Naturally extreme long ranges are not good for this aspect due to the nature of their catalyst.

Given their nature as heavy hitters, some might assume that vanguards with the exergy aspect might be brutes or otherwise prefer the simplicity of solving problems by hitting them very hard. However, there is plenty of precedent for them to wax philosophical or have other interests. Their focus on exergy might give them a strong work ethic, as they are intimately familiar with the loss of opportunity and efficiency caused by entropic forces. They may have trouble relaxing or cutting loose, however, or they might play just as hard as they work, if not harder.

The Battle Tunnels of Nyact are a maze of subterranean caverns that have been converted into an arena of sorts, individual competitors being dropped in random sectors to explore and hunt down their fellow gladiators, with a multitude of hidden cameras to watch the whole thing. The show is infamous for being especially grueling to newcomers who are disoriented by the unfamiliar, winding tunnels, but those who rise to the top become crowd favorites, like the current champion, a kayal swordsman whose mono-edge blade seems capable of cutting through anything, especially once he’s taken a few hits himself.

Eager to explore parallels between her power and that of other natural forces, the vanguard Kiera has accepted a position as bodyguard on a xenogeological expedition studying the volcanic lakes of a frontier world. However, while there, she hears a voice in her head calling for release. The source of the voice is a dreaming xaxmellia kaiju, eager to be awakened to rain down acidic havoc once more.

Last night the foundation of the Micrad local office building collapsed spontaneously, despite the building being brand new. Some believe that faulty construction is to blame, but the destruction was so sudden that sabotage is another possibility. Upon further investigation, it seems that something accelerated all the weaknesses in the design in a single moment with shocking efficiency.

I can’t even remember what the point was.

It’s that time once again for me to list my favorite stuff from the year, and oh boy, what a year it has been. It sucked, okay, let’s just cut to the chase. The anime I watched the most this year was probably One Piece, like I discussed just the other day in my media binge reviews. If you wanna see my thoughts on some stuff that isn’t from 2021, check it out, if you don’t give a crap, and really who can blame you, just keep scrolling down. I am once again going to include sequels and long running animes in my ranking this year, and yeah, the list is just in alphabetical order so there isn’t really a number 1 to say, although if you ask me, it’s Muteking! Muteking is my favorite anime from 2021, that was the best show. Well, you can read why down below, but let’s get started. 

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside

You can tell this one is based off a light novel with that title, for simplicity sake let’s just call it Banished from here on out. Banished is a somewhat interesting concept, instead of being about the classic JRPG Yusha (Hero) character it instead focuses on a temporary party member. If you have played a decent amount of JRPGs I am sure you know what I am talking about, Red the main character isn’t a permanent party member, just someone that joins the group temporarily then leaves at some point. Red, being a former companion of the hero’s party, makes him worldly and interesting but he’s also down to earth and just wants to live a quiet life with his adventuring days behind him. When he meets Rit from his old adventuring days he is initially worried that his cover will be blown but she instead decides to settle down with him. What follows is pretty standard fantasy anime schlock but it’s held together really well because of the great chemistry between Red and Rit that make an adorable couple. It’s refreshing to have two adults actually openly dating with no “will they or won’t they?” antics.

Black Clover

Of all the things for 2021 to take, it had to be Clover! How cruel! I kid of course, and with the current state of anime I have no doubt it will one day return, hey even World Trigger did and I never would have believed that. For now though, Black Clover is over, and it ended pretty well for what it was. We got absolutely fantastic battles towards the end, Asta and Yami vs Dante is a true highlight of the entire series and really shows how much Asta has grown up now in the time skip and how important he has become to other people in his life. Hearing Yami finally call Asta by his name gave me goosebumps, it’s a beautiful moment. It hurts to have this one leave, it became a pinnacle of my Saturday nights on Toonami for some 4 years but Asta will return to save his friends again, I’m sure of it. 

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

Last year Boruto began delving into manga content, both adapting story arcs from it directly and creating new content around it that further elaborated on material left vague in the manga. It was a great year for the series and it’s awesome to see that it pretty much kept that momentum for the entirety of 2021 as well, adapting almost the entire manga by this point. It was this year that finally revealed the secret behind Boruto’s curse mark and the cruel fate that awaits the youth as well as finally bringing the secondary protagonist into the series, Kawaki. Kawaki really shook up the status quo, a misunderstood youth that was being chased by a criminal organization, he had the same curse as Boruto and took crap from no one. 

Over the following story arcs we watched both Boruto and Kawaki grow a lot and share a deep brotherly bond because of the dark fate they have been given. And the battles, holy crap, the fights were incredible. The Boruto staff truly outdid themselves, animating some incredible fights that went above and beyond spectacle into almost cinematic quality fights. And it was absolutely earned, as these fights were tied together nicely with some really great story telling. Overall, I know the following year will probably be a bit slower since the anime has more or less caught up, but I don’t even care, it was one hell of a great ride these past two years, and I can’t wait to see what comes in the future. 

Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress 

Last year the third series of Vanguard finished after a nearly two year long run and 2021 has seen the start of Overdress, the new fourth series that celebrates the ten year anniversary of the franchise. OD is both something new and a return to form, and it was kind of an odd start to me; much of the first season simply did not click for me like I hoped it would. And that is one of the big differences OD has over past entries as the series has shifted to a much older demographic and airs late at night and in single cours. Gone are seasons that last 50-65 episodes and instead in their place are beautifully animated 12 episode seasons. The series having such a smaller episode count however didn’t vibe well with the same old kind of slow pace storytelling Season 1 presented and often had to sacrifice the titular card fights of the series in order to tell plot. I’m watching a card battle anime because I want card battles, that shouldn’t be too complicated to understand, right? 

Season 2 thankfully delivers in many ways and made me realize that a lot of the former season was all done for set up and finally getting this pay off felt great. Card fights become much more regular and said fights in general become really enjoyable with great strategy and wonderful animation. The story really picks up in this season and the cast finally feels like it all has fallen into place. Overdress was a rocky transition but I think Bushiroad has managed to bring a really great and well crafted card battle series to an older demographic. I’m looking forward to future seasons of the series now.

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars

Season 2 of Dr. Stone picks up right as the war between the two different factions of the stone world, Senku’s Kingdom of Science and Tsukasa’s Empire begin their war and it wastes no time in getting to the good stuff. Old characters return, Senku unleashes some great science on us, and most importantly the chemistry of the entire cast is top notch, even for the villain side. Every character is really well realized and written. It says a lot when the end of the season makes you empathize with the villain just as much as you did with the main characters. It’s sadly hard to talk a lot about Stone Wars since it is just one story arc of the series, going into details is pretty much just spoiling the story arc, but it’s a great continuation of a really fun and different Jump manga.

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020)

Toei’s modern adaptation of Dai no Daibouken is a dream come true, and one I never thought I could get. It brings back the same feelings I had when Madhouse began a new Hunter x Hunter adaptation in 2011, and I simply love that so many beloved 90’s Jump series are finally getting their due. This year the anime finally surpassed where the original 1991 anime left off, and seeing these story arcs get animated is incredible. And the animation is top notch! The staff working on the series really bring a lot of talent and creativity that brings the fights from the series into new light. Most importantly, I’m just having so much fun watching this series every weekend like I’m a kid again. Dai no Daibouken at one time in my life I considered my favorite manga, and to this day it really holds up so strongly. The anime finally entering into the second half of the manga has been one of the most exciting things for me this year!

Full Dive: This Ultimate Next-Gen Full Dive RPG Is Even Shittier than Real Life!

For me it’s kind of hard to do a comedy isekai (another world) series nowadays. It’s probably just because of how dry the isekai well is in general but there’s also just some really great competition, like Konosuba kind of already did everything and did it so well it’s hard to find any more humor from this. But then Full Dive came along and oh boy, I usually don’t find mean spirited comedy that funny but this is gold. The series really takes the piss out of so many power fantasy series, making a VR fantasy world that is too realistic, meaning that if you are weak IRL you are weak in the game, and it’s such a one trick pony but it works just so incredibly well. Watching the main character constantly fall over and over again because doing even the simplest of things in a JRPG is herculean for real life people. Hell, I think one of the funniest jokes is that he doesn’t even leave the starter town until the very end of the season! The thing that usually happens in a couple of minutes in an actual JRPG. 

Girlfriend, Girlfriend

Speaking of great comedies this year, Girlfriend, Girlfriend is another one. Instead of the usual “will they or won’t they” love triangle, the series protagonist Naoya is way too pure and doesn’t want to cheat on anyone so he somehow ends up in an utterly bizarre three way poly relationship with two other girls that is way too hard to explain to normal people and often leads to fairly funny outcomes. It’s just your regular high school romance between one dude and his two girlfriends. The humor is often really absurd, and the characters are sometimes too stupid to even function. The whole thing is held together by just how pure and sincere Naoya is in being the perfect two-timing boyfriend.

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan

“Hey, that’s me!” is pretty much how I describe Uramichi-oniisan. Do you hate your job? Is life in your thirties depressing? Is your body starting to age and fall apart? Have you given up on ever achieving personal happiness? Are you going to be single forever? If you answered yes to all these questions then this is you too! We are all Uramichi-oniisan! The fact that this show aired on mondays too was way too perfect, I think it had to be intentional; vegging out to work time blues and your depressing 30s on the harshest day of the week really helped to get me through.

Muteking the Dancing Hero!

In what is probably the most creative and ingenious reimaging of a classic property I have ever seen, Muteking the Dancing Hero, takes an old cheesy early-80s Tatsunoko superhero show and transforms it into a modern spectacle that still pays homage to the era of origin. It’s such a clever idea that I can’t get over–poaching one of their many, many, dime-a-dozen Gatchaman clones and transforming it into … well pretty much an old school goofy rhythm game. Anyone familiar with the classics like Gitaroo Man, Rhythm Heaven, PaRappa, and the like, will know what I am talking about: Muteking the Dancing Hero is pretty much just one of those games if they were an anime. Gone are the mechs and the toyriffic gadgets, and in their place are epic dance battles against kaiju that seek to destroy the city. 

The music is phenomenal in the series, naturally, the dance battle portion of every episode is just so much fun, and way too enjoyable, but the soundtrack brings a lot of weight to it outside of just those tracks and there are even some old school classics from the era of the original Muteking; I nearly lost my mind when the show played the legendary (or maybe infamous now) Plastic Love, and somehow made it work for one of the saddest scenes in the series. Then there is also Aurorathe most popular celebrity in the city and a dark idol that Muteking just can’t seem to beat for most of the series. Their dance clashes bring some of the best music in the series.

Besides the great idea to take a cheesy old property and reinvent it, and besides the great music that came with this new dance battle aspect of the series, besides all that, my favorite thing about Muteking the Dancing Hero is just that it’s loads of fun. The series is one of those rare shows that every episode feels insanely fun, the characters have fantastic chemistry with each other and no matter how small a role everyone gets something to do, the world is so well defined and cartoonish enough to seem magical, and 25 minutes just go away in a blink of an eye. This was the most fun I had watching anime all year, and easily my favorite show of the year, I will forever go up to bat for this weird, creative series. Two best buddies really can save the universe with the power of dance!

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

I originally watched this show because a lot of people were dunking on it for being super pervy and dumb, and hey, oh shit, a stupid perverted dumb isekai series, sign me up, bro. This wasn’t what I was led to believe, as it slowly became a really well written and heart wrenching series, I guess the twitter mobs never know what they are talking about, oh well, at least I watched a great show for once. Mushoku Tensei is a really interesting beast though and I can see why people might be grossed out at the start, it feels like the author probably played a lot of eroge back in the day before writing this series, and hey, me too, so it didn’t ruin the experience for me personally. Eroge, or erotic game in laymen, is probably the best comparison I can think of for Mushoku Tensei, as just like many famous eroge (think Yu-No or Fate/) the horny content is there but an incredibly deep and well articulated plot is just under the surface (and the boobs) too.

Remake Our Life!

This show I really felt on a lot of levels, being a burned out 30-something with a dead end job. There are a lot of fantasy titles in Japan now that seem to focus on escaping to another world or redoing a pivotal part of your life and it makes me imagine there’s a good chunk of the population there just as burned out as me. Remake really did a great job at not only making me extremely jealous of protagonist Kyouya for getting such a great opportunity to follow his creative dreams again in his youth, but also made me feel insanely inspired again every episode. Anybody struggling to become an artist in their adult life can relate to this series, and it really shows how the best of intentions sometimes can lead to the worst results. Nobody ever said second chances are perfect but I can’t help but to think how great it would have been to chase more of my dreams in my college years.

Tokyo Revengers

Tokyo Revengers feels like it might be the last big title from Crunchyroll and that made it extra special to me. We had this big 2-cour long mega popular show with a fantastic Crunchy commissioned dub in the vein of their other prior major gems like Jujutsu Kaisen before it. Now that they are owned by Funimation I had no clue going forward what will happen so this may really be the last of its kind. I can say though, it was a damn fun series to end on. 

Just like Remake Our Life! Tokyo Revengers features the protagonist time traveling back into his middle school self, on a mission to save his childhood sweetheart from a cruel fate in the present. The time travel aspect originally threw me off a bit, as it is kind of poorly written but after a while I came to actually really appreciate it for what it is. This is not a hard sci-fi fantasy series, at its core this is a fun yankii battle manga: the time travel aspect is just a narrative device that helps set stakes and creatively gives you exposition. We know why Takemichi has to succeed so badly because we get glimpses into what will happen if he doesn’t.

TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy-

This is a guilty pleasure of mine. Tsukimichi does nothing extraordinary nor is it really that well made but there is just something there that I can’t quite put my finger on that makes me enjoy it a lot. Perhaps it’s that the series has a somewhat older feel to it, the original novels it is based on do date back to about 2012. For whatever reason this show makes me nostalgic and I really don’t have any prior experience with it. Feels like something I would have watched in high school. If you told me it was from 2006 I would believe you, as it firmly feels like Zero no Tsukaima to me. Anyways, guilty pleasure, but I would be remiss not to mention it since I spammed my friends with screenshots from this one quite a bit over this year.

World Trigger (Season 2 and Season 3)

Seeing World Trigger return like it has is honestly something that still surprises me. I was there, eight years ago, I watched since episode 1 aired back in 2014, and never could I have imagined that we would get past that cliff hanger the original first season ended on way-back-when in 2016. Seeing the anime finally finish the story arc it left on is really satisfying in a lot of ways but seeing how much care and effort was put in these new seasons is even more satisfying. It’s no secret the original first season had a rocky start and was right at the peak of Toei being kind of a disaster so seeing them have such an amazing output recently is a true underdog story, Dai no Daibouken and World Trigger are some of the best animated series around right now. Beyond the stellar animation (seriously this is the best I’ve seen in so long) World Trigger always holds a special place in my heart as the best Jump series from the 2010s. To me World Trigger is just where it is at for that decade, and this isn’t some diss on the many other great Jump titles of that era, I just think this is my favorite one; it has the sharpest writing, uses real world combat tactics, a huge roster of amazing characters, and is just a fun sci-fi series all together. 

The Vampire Dies in No Time

The Vampire Dies in No Time is a really great “buddy cop” kind of comedy, where world class Vampire Hunter Ronaldo somehow ends up partnering with the most fearsome and powerful vampire of them all, Draluc–except all that is total bull. Draluc’s legend is greatly exaggerated and despite his best efforts to be the stereotypical Dracula kind of vampire, he’s completely harmless, if anything he only hurts himself not humans. Pretty much even the smallest flick of your finger is enough to kill Draluc, who thankfully can revive endlessly but that’s about all he’s good for. Ronaldo and Draluc bicker constantly, are a terrible vampire hunter team, and each try to betray the other at every chance they can get–but somehow they are stuck together. It’s never a dull moment with these two idiots.

Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun (Season 2)

Iruma-kun is back and this newest season covers some of my favorite content in the series like the Evil Iruma story arc and the Walter Park arc. It’s nice to be able to settle down more into this series and see it continue, and knowing there is a season 3 in the upcoming future makes me hopeful we might get the entire series animated one day. Iruma-kun really fills in that void that Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Left in my heart after its ending. It’s funny, has some great small character moments, and can also handle battle manga material very competently. Watching young Iruma and his friends of demon misfits grow to rise above their misfit labels and become the most respected class of the titular Demon School is just too much fun. 

After taking home the drunk maid, Prinz Eugen, yesterday, how’s the newbie maid doing today?

Vanguard understands the Royal Maids have a constant schedule to uphold. Remember to thank your Royal Navy Ship Girl Maids!

Budgeting as a College Student: Comparing My Undergrad vs Graduate Spending Habits + Tips

My budgeting as an undergraduate and as a graduate student is very different.

As an undergraduate, I didn’t really know much about budgeting, finance, credit cards, or anything. Quite honestly, I was just… broke. My parents did not give me a monthly allowance (they couldn’t afford to!) and I had a part-time work-study job that gave me some income, but I always limited myself on buying things. Truthfully, I didn’t really need to buy things: I had a meal plan for half my undergraduate time, and living in the college dorms meant that the university would fix my light bulbs and have vacuums for us, etc. During my junior and senior years (when I lived off-campus), that’s when I started to spend a bit more money: on groceries, eating out, and random things like batteries. Overall though, I look back and I’m grateful for how strict I was with my spending. I think I’d only spend $100-$300 a month maximum on my credit card.

As a graduate student, this is much different. Although, COVID is a big factor here as well: my first year of graduate school was 100% virtual so I stayed with my parents and did not need to pay rent. And at the height of the pandemic (AKA all of 2020), everyone, including myself, stayed inside and as a result, I hardly spent any $. I saved a SHIT TON of money during my first year of graduate school. My second year of graduate school is in-person but because of my scholarships/funding, I’m very humbled to admit that budgeting isn’t a super necessary thing for me.

But still, I compare my spending habits from undergrad to graduate, and I’m shocked at the differences. I know I’m older now, and there’s COVID, and etc. But I spend a LOT more as a graduate student. I think it may be because I used to work full-time for a couple years so I got used to a standard of living.

This post doesn’t really have much substance except to conclude with:

1. Make sure you keep track of your spending habits! At the bare minimum, I’d recommend using the Mint Mobile app for finances. I’ve used it since undergrad and it’s nice to have all of my accounts linked and for me to easily see where I stand.
2. Consider investing. I have another post here that talks more about financial tips. There are three rules to investing: start early, make regular contributions (literally could be $20 a month… better than nothing!), and don’t touch the money.
3. Spend wisely. Who cares about clothes, material possessions, etc when you can spend it on EXPERIENCES? That’s my recommendation. And if you DO buy clothes/etc, buy QUALITY items and shop during sales. Shop smartly.

That’s all for now!

If you’re in your 20s, here are some quick, basic financial tips!

I’m no expert at all so of course do your own due diligence. But here’s what I wish I would’ve known earlier:

1. Subscribe tor/personalfinance on reddit. This sub is FULL of extremely helpful information, including a literal step by step guide of how to handle $, as well as information of what to do when you’re at certain ages. This was my first resource when I became serious about my finances!
2. Make sure you have at least one credit card, so you can start building credit. The earlier, the better. Be responsible with how you use this card, obviously. There are great “starter” credit cards so look to see which one is the most appealing for you! A good age to get a credit card is the summer before college starts.
3. Create a high-yields savings account. A high-yields savings account has an extremely higher interest rate than a standard savings account. For example, Ally Bank is at 0.50% and Bank of America is at a measly 0.01%. Take time to review how you want your money organized and stored, but I’d highly recommend having a “standard” savings account and a high-yields savings account.
4. Open a traditional IRA or ROTH IRA account and contribute what you can. Do your research independently to see which account is best for you. And then start contributing whatever you can. Time is on your side, friends! Even if you can only contribute $50 a month (or a one-time payment), it’s better than nothing! The #1 tip for investing is to start early because of the compounding interest.
5. Open a brokerage account and contribute what you can. Similar advice as the point above. Personally, I would contribute the maximum limit for the IRA account (if I could), before contributing to my brokerage account.
6. Try to minimize your debts as much as possible! Apply to as many scholarships as you can. To help pay for college, consider working part-time while balancing your coursework: it’s pretty common but obviously know your limits! If you’re too stressed out, it’s likely not worth the juggle. Live frugally until you pay off your debts (and honestly, even after).

Colorless CFV doodles