My favorites, across genres. Not in any particular order.

Anime

1. Steins;Gate - the psychological horrors of time travel; starts off slow

2. Hunter x Hunter - the best shōnen, next to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

3. Angel Beats! - will make you cry and laugh

4. Haikyuu!! - sports anime about volleyball, also Kuroko no Basket

5. Bleach - not actually great but good for nostalgia

6. Your Lie in April - about piano and violin, between rigidity and free-spirit musicality

For their unique or phenomenal animation:

• Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works; Konosuba; Made in Abyss; Mob Psycho 100; Parasyte - the maxim -; Himouto! Umaru-Chan; One Punch Man; Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Artists

1. Alex Niño - particularly toward his work during the pre-production of Mulan, I deeply admire his stylized approach to comics

2. Edward Hopper - well-celebrated, with multitudes of philosophical interpretations of each painting

3. Jean-Michel Basquiat - a political and cultural perspective through graffiti

4. Kim Jung Gi - a man with a heart, outlook, and humility as profound as his talent

5. Qian Qian Ye - an abstract take on the ordinary, awkward, and lonely; also a very thoughtful designer

For the Instagrammers:

• @kelogsloops, @chrisglibart, @zhifangs, @maloart, @leekillust, @henrikaau, @milesart, @hillkurtz, @toddhido_

• My talented friends: @3fargone, @art_awu

Games

1. Bioshock - one of my favorite franchises about an enchanting but corrupt underwater city called Rapture full of Splicers, Little Sisters, and Big Daddies

2. Heavy Rain - an emotional adventure surrounding the mystery of the Origami Killer

3. Inside - a psychological platformer that invokes a provoking and disturbing dystopia of Nazi-like control

4. The Last of Us - action survival horror game with a terrific relationship between the main characters

What I play now:

• League of Legends - a classic. Add me: Golly

• Super Smash Bros. - a classic

General recommendations:

• Uncharted franchise (adventure, treasure hunting), Runescape (nostalgia), Warframe (space ninja MMORPG), Hearthstone (card game), Diablo III (dungeon crawler RPG), The Walking Dead (Season 1 has a great story)

K-Dramas

Thank you to Adel Wu for recommending: @art_awu.

1. Signal - time travel, cold case mysteries

2. More someday

Movies

I love biographics! i.e. The Founder, 12 Years A Slave, Spotlight, etc. Horror is also a guilty pleasure.

1. Coraline - childhood favorite; a horror tale spun with stop-motion

2. Koe no Katachi - a childhood bully seeks redemption with a deaf girl

3. Guardians of the Galaxy - favorite out of the MCU

4. WALL-E - favorite Disney/Pixar for its message even in 2008

5. Casino Royale - favorite out of the spy genre like Bourne, MI, etc.

Studio Ghibli - almost all their movies are amazing. Love Marvel/DC too.

Music

Big section. Look up Dimash Kudaibergenov for, in my opinion, the best singer I’ve heard.

Instrumental

Probably my favorite songs.

1. Merry Go Round of Life - Howl’s Moving Castle

2. The Name of Life - Spirited Away

3. Frank Ocean - Be Yourself

4. Clair de lune - Claude Debussy

5. Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 - Frédéric Chopin

6. Turkish March - Arcadi Volodos

7. Strobe - deadmau5

8. Opus - Eric Prydz

9. Letter from Yokosuka - Nujabes

Hip-Hop/Rap

1. Moon River, Self Control, Pyramids, and Nights - Frank Ocean (or the entire Blonde album)

2. Same Drugs, Chain Smoker, Smoke Again, Favorite Song - Chance the Rapper

3. Ultralight Beam, I Wonder, Only One, Monster, and Champion - Kanye West

4. Make It Better, The Bird, Come Down - Anderson .Paak

5. Do Not Disturb, Madiba Riddim, and Own It - Drake

6. DNA., i, King Kunta, Poetic Justice, ELEMENT. - Kendrick Lamar

7. 1999 Wildfire, 2PAC, QUEER, GINGER - BROCKHAMPTON

Jaden also has good stuff. Russ some.

Nostalgia

1. I Want You Back - Jackson 5

2. Good Riddance - Green Day

3. Fly Me To The Moon - Frank Sinatra

4. Could You Be Loved - Bob Marley

5. Hey There Delilah - Plain White T’s

6. Hello Seattle - Owl City

7. New Light and Half of My Heart - John Mayer

8. Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas

9. American Pie - Don McLean

10. Love Story - Taylor Swift

Moody

1. 3:00 AM - Finding Hope

2. Woman and Warm on a Cold Night - Honne

3. Skin, Nico’s Red Truck - Dijon

4. i swear i’ll never leave again, summer - keshi

5. The A Team - Ed Sheeran

6. Die Trying - Michl

7. SUPERPOSITION, TOO DEEP TO TURN BACK - Daniel Caesar

8. Joji - his In Tongues album

Pop

1. Can’t Sleep Love - Pentatonix

2. Lay Me Down, Midnight Train - Sam Smith

3. Barcelona, Budapest - George Ezra

4. Love Yourself, Company - Justin Bieber

5. wish you were gay, ilomilo - Billie Eilish

6. all the kids are depressed, better off - Jeremy Zucker

7. The Morning, Acquainted - The Weeknd

8. Dilliwaali Girlfriend - Pritam Chakraborty

9. Badtameez Dil - Benny Dayal

Movie/Game/Show Soundtracks

One of my favorite genres for nostalgia.

1. The Winner Is - Devotchka (Little Miss Sunshine)

2. Living Mice - C418 (Minecraft)

3. lvs, lit(var) - Kensuke Ushio (Koe no Katachi)

4. Soundscape to Ardor, Always Be With Me in Mind - Shiro Sagisu (Bleach)

5. Nightcall, A Real Hero, Fantasy - Drive

6. The Shape of Water - Alexandre Desplat (Shape of Water)

7. Invincible - Aminé (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)

   1. Also Sunflower, Start a Riot, Memories, and Let Go, of course.

8. Married Life - Up

9. Dead Island Trailer Theme - Giles Lamb

10. Will the Circle Be Unbroken - Bioshock Infinite

11. Next to You - Parasyte (Kiseijuu)

12. 西游记动画 - both intro and outro.

13. おうちに帰かえりたい - Kono Subarashii

14. 三葉のテーマ - RADWIMPS (Your Name)

EDM

1. The Light - Ridvan (skip to 1:30)

2. Fade Into Darkness - Avicii

3. Weakness - Prismo

4. Faded, Working For It - ZHU

5. Something Good - JLV

6. Balenciaga - Cheat Codes

7. passionfruit, raingurl - Yaeji

8. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Main Theme - VGR

Check out Pogo too.

Lo-Fi

1. Early Thinkin - Hazy Year

2. Proud of You - A L E X

3. April Showers - Proleter

4. Scopophobia - HM Surf

5. Better Days - LAKEY INSPIRED

6. Evenings - Idealism

7. Elusive - Arbour

Chinese

1. 北京欢迎你 - Summer Olympics 2008

2. 因为爱情 - Eason Chan

3. 青花瓷, 发如雪 - Jay Chou

4. 斑马, 斑马 - Song Dongye

5. 童话 - Michael Wong

6. 我的新衣 - VaVa

7. 天乾物燥, 虎山行 - GAI

8. 二泉映月

K-Pop

1. Spring Day, Miss Right, Baepsae, The Truth Untold, MAMA, Love Myself, and Seesaw - BTS

   1. Also Suga’s rap: Agust D

2. Sexy 4 Eva, Dank - Jay Park

3. No Make Up - Zion.T

4. Lonely - Kanto

5. We Are - Woo, Loco, GRAY

6. Palette and BBIBBI - IU

7. instagram - DEAN

8. Some, You(=I), and Travel - Bolbbalgan4

Indie

1. Foolsong, Goodie Bag - Still Woozy

2. Lover Boy, Long Gone - Phum Viphurit

3. Girls, Narcissist, TooTime, and Paris - The 1975

4. Yes I’m Changing, The Less I Know The Better - Tame Impala

5. Television / So Far So Good, Loving Is Easy, Best Friend - Rex Orange County

6. Dennis, Hazel - Roy Blair

7. Something Good Can Work, What You Know - Two Door Cinema Club

8. Gooey - Glass Animals

9. Malibu Nights - LANY (or anything by them)

Photographers

1. Alex Webb - colorful street photos, many taken in Latin America

2. Fan Ho - phenomenal B&W street photos of Hong Kong

3. Joel Meyerowitz - very colorful advocate for street photography

4. Robert Frank - B&W / historic take on American society

5. Philip-Lorca diCorcia - a brilliant constructor of photography, from lighting to narrative

For the Instagrammers:

• @itsreuben, @sixstreetunder, @markwebber_, @joshkjack, @cvatik, @witchoria, @s.ilver

TV Series

1. Black Mirror - mainstream dystopian

2. Game of Thrones - before they ruined it

3. Sherlock - for our savior Benedict

4. Stranger Things - ‘80s-inspired thriller

5. Supernatural - classic demon-hunting

6. The Boys - pure unbridled superhero fun

Writers

1. Brian Jacques - for writing my favorite childhood book series, Redwall, next to Eragon

2. John Green - for his eclectic personality, both online and in his stories; thank you for saving me during AP cram sessions

3. Marina Keegan - one of my favorite student essayists for writing on poignant college discussions, though unfortunately passed away too early

4. Nicholas Kristof - one of my favorite journalists; his weekly columns in the NYT are a great read

YouTubers

1. Peaceful Cuisine - this man’s culinary aesthetic, also very talented at pottery and furniture

2. Watercolor by Shibasaki - Japanese Bob Ross

3. Daily Dose of Internet - memes

4. Great Big Story - get inspired

5. Strictly Dumpling - favorite food reviewer

6. CinemaSins - he’s funny

7. JunsKitchen - food and cats

You can probably tell at this point that I’m basic and very indecisive.