Ding Dong! Happy New Year! We here at the Sentinel Sun sure hope you’ve all been making many resolutions, and not failing at all of them. Now then, with all the social niceties out of the way, it’s time to answer the question on everyone’s mind! What are the lovely intellectuals at our school enjoying this year?
Throughout the first week of 2023, we ran a google form that allowed people to share their current favorite films, books, games, and more. After toiling through some very interesting responses (if there actually is an Oli London in grade 12, we genuinely apologize), we’ve come up with a list of highlights to satisfy your need to know about other people’s lives.
Video Games
Was that…a triple kill?! No, it wasn’t. You’re not that good. Despite the general level of incompetence, many people at our school are still enjoying their fair share of video games this year! For one, we received many responses of people expressing their love for the video game Genshin Impact. Loathed by most teachers and loved by many students, Genshin is a Chinese free to play game that launched in 2020 and took the world by storm. It has revolutionized the gaming industry, winning countless awards and breaking an uncountable number of records. It has also seemingly transformed break times at Sentinel into a complete gaming fest.
It also goes without saying that multiplayer team games Valorant and League of Legends are trending as always. Glad to see we’re all still alive and kicking in 2023. Both games have seen massive success as titles for teens, and our school has always had quite the big, welcoming group of gamers. However, many also responded to our question with a new, but not too new contender– Overwatch. A player vs player game which originally launched in 2016, Overwatch quickly climbed to the peak of gaming culture before tripping on its own leg and rolling back down the hill after several terrible updates. However, late 2022 brought back Overwatch in the form of a sequel, creatively named Overwatch 2. This would see the return of new and old players alike. It seems from these responses that our school was not an exception. Punch air, Valorant players.
Shows & Movies
There’s nothing greater than seeing your favorite book come into life as an animation or film. TV shows and movies have always been components of our culture and usually make up 70% of the personality of teens (remember the grip Euphoria (rated R) had on society in 2019?). Sentinel is no exception. Full of passionate, excited individuals who haven’t seen the light of day since they exited the womb, it’s natural that they’d turn their eyes to the blue-light internet and indulge in some drama.
For example, The Untamed is a popular LGBTQ+ Chinese show based on the hit novel Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. It (albeit censored) focuses on the love story between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian and is set in ancient China, with most characters having cultivation powers and coming from prestigious clans. Together, they investigate the murder of a sect leader and along the way, realize that nearly every character in the book is the uncle of a spoiled, dog-owning brat with attachment issues. It discusses morality, mortality, and the choosing between who you were raised to be and who you were meant to be. Overall, a great show with a lot of blood, character death, and repressed homosexuality. The entire show is available for free, with captions in multiple languages, on YouTube!
Ginny & Georgia was requested by an especially enthusiastic Audrey from grade 9. It made its debut in February of 2021, and soon gained a lovely fanbase that appreciates the show’s many intricacies. It currently sits at a comfortable 20 episodes on Netflix, for anyone who would like to take a watch for themselves.
Squid Game (for mature audiences) was another top hit, especially during the pandemic. It’s a Korean show that found international success with its critique of modern-day capitalism and the extent of which humans are willing to abandon all morality for survival. One of its actresses, Jung Hoyeon, who played Kang Saebyeok, went viral for her appearance and soul-wrenching portrayal of the pickpocket. The story is about a group of individuals, all in desperate need of money, who are pitted against each other to compete for 45.6 billion won (49~ million CAD) through a series of traditional Korean games. Bring tissues when you watch, especially if you love selfless characters who struggle with their own values.
Another story that will also make you cry (not for plot reasons, but from its studio avoiding responsibility) is Yuri on Ice. The thinly veiled LGBTQ+ anime from 2016 follows Yuri Katsuki, a fallen-from-grace skater intent on winning gold. He manages to snag the attention of famous Russian skater (and his own personal idol!) Victor Nikiforov, who takes it upon himself to teach Yuri how to become the best skater ever. From pretending to be chicken katsudon to purchasing marriage rings (and then saying they weren’t married), it’s full of precious and tender moments that almost make you forget that we were promised a movie ages ago that MAPPA has yet to deliver on. If you intend on watching the show (the best character is Yuri Plisetsky, by the way), make sure to watch it in Room 202 with Ms. Tabone. You’ll be sure to give her traumatic flashbacks that we won’t elaborate on!
Yet another tale for associates of the rainbow (we have realized upon writing this that many of these suggestions are LGBTQ+) is an iconic one. The year is 2023, and yet someone STILL WATCHES GLEE (certain members of the Sentinel Sun have strong feelings against Glee). For anyone blissfully unaware, Glee was a musically charged highschool sitcom about singing, pop, and being gay. Nowadays, it’s pretty much the ultimate 2010s guilty pleasure. Hey, no judgment here—sometimes listening to Rachel Berry belt “Don’t Rain On My Parade” is the only thing that heals the soul.
Music
Every year, the music industry grows larger beyond comprehension. From the releases of hit songs like Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” to IVE’s “After Like,” the past few months have been insane (in both good and bad ways). Pop, rap, indie, hip-hop, K-POP, R&B, jazz – you name it, it’s there. What are some favorites from the students of Sentinel?
Just One Day by BTS was one of the many answers we received. In recent years, K-POP boy band BTS has taken the international music market by storm. Despite their oldest member’s recent military enlistment, the group has continued to release hit after hit that their endless fandom, ARMY, stream like crazy. “Just One Day” is one of their older songs from 2014 that discusses longing for just one day with their lover. The song is calming, bittersweet and really gets you in the feels. Just don’t get turned off by them dancing in a white room in chairs.
Another song – this time, a classic one – is by Coldplay: Viva la Vida. It’s about a monarch who has lost control over his kingdom. It discusses “the fall from grace, the triumphs and tragedies of humanity, and how fast times are changing.” The student additionally describes every lyric as “quotable minus the standard ooOooOOo of every Coldplay song.” Make sure to listen to the song if you somehow haven’t heard it already, in which case we hereby declare you a hermit from the rest of society. Also, the Minecraft version is better, so check that out too.
An even older song is Suite for 8 Violins by Gordon Jacob. Like the name suggests, the piece is an octet written for 8 violins. It was commissioned by Florence Hooton in 1981 to honour the 70th birthday of her husband, David Martin. It’s a gorgeous work that truly tugs at your heartstrings – great for anyone wanting to hear what love sounds like.
From Genshin to Glee, K-POP to The Untamed, Sentinel is headed in for another year of amazing favorites and endless shenanigans. All of your responses have taught us lots about what’s really trending here at our school, and we sincerely recommend you try out some of these recommendations from your fellow school mates. For now, though, we wish you another year full of streaming your favorite songs, grinding your favorite games, and watching your favorite films. Just remember to touch some grass once in a while.
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