Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Episode 22

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the trials of the First Class Mage Exam, as Frieren, Fern, and an assortment of skilled rivals compete for that vaunted title. Some, like Frieren or the distinguished Denken, simply desire the passage it will grant into the far northern lands. Others crave the boon it implies from the living grimoire Serie, or the momentum it would grant to any pursuit of martial or political glory. Nonetheless, with blood already spilled across the course of the first round, all are willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of this distant prize.

That first round also revealed a great deal else about our competitors, testing them on not just their magical facilities, but also the nature and strength of their convictions. I’ve been consistently delighted to see this exam avoid resolving into pure tests of martial strength, and instead frame its conflicts around how different paths through life might result in different relationships with mortality. Perspectives range from Frieren and Denken’s firm “no award is worth killing for,” a resolve gained through many years of living with their own regrets, to more nuanced positions like Wirbel’s complex relationship with killing, or Richter’s blunt acceptance of violence in pursuit of personal advancement. The weight we carry can only be measured in retrospect; just as Frieren can only now appreciate the joys of her prior journey, so can a sin on the soul only be felt after the act is committed. Let us hope our contestants act with foresight and consideration then, as they continue to negotiate the price of power!

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Shoushimin Series – Episode 14

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the tantalizing mysteries of Shoushimin Series, as Urino’s precious arson investigation seems poised to draw all surrounding actors into the conflagration. Having flipped the script on club president Kengo’s attempts at a graceful withdrawal from the spotlight, Urino has claimed the presidency for himself, and now eyes not just a continuing investigation, but the chance to catch the culprit personally.

With the arsons continuing and Osanai clearly involved, even Jogoro has been shaken from his stupor, and is now making his own plays alongside the ever-watchful Kengo. And frankly, it’s hard to say who Jogoro was actually convincing; his focus has remained on the horizon all through his time with Nakamura, and even the revelation that she was apparently cheating on him prompted nothing more than a surprised “huh” from our detective.

It is easy enough to just live passively, but clearly neither Osanai nor Jogoro have the stomach for it. Osanai’s been manipulating this case all along, and Jogoro has been so emotionally absent that all he could muster regarding his feelings for Nakamura was “you seemed like a good person.” That exchange laid his true intentions bare; his words spoke only to his own self-image and desire for transformation, his need to see in himself what he had come to assume was laudable in others. Both Jogoro and Osanai entered into new relationships assuming the blandness of their partners would rub off on them – little wonder that both of those relationships have stalled, given they were built on a foundation of assuming others essentially lacked emotional interiority, and that it was furthermore noble to pursue such blandness of spirit. With their facades in tatters, I’m eager to see both our leads abandon their aspirations of lukewarm geniality, and return to the wildness that makes them shine!

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The Mighty Nein – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to get back to the adventures of The Mighty Nein, the second long-form campaign of those devious dice-dealers over at Critical Role. After the relatively straightforward high fantasy questing of Vox Machina, this second adventure has seen Critical Role’s players embrace thornier characters with far less straightforward ambitions, some of which seem directly at odds with the goals of others. It’s a natural progression for authors and tabletop players alike; after putting your own spin on comforting genre templates, one often feels a yearning for drama that offers no easy solution, and protagonists who never quite fit a hero’s mantle.

Our last episode certainly exemplified that complexity, while also demonstrating the aggressive adaptive philosophy that has made this production so compelling. The story of Caleb Widowgast proved a harrowing expedition into wizardry’s dark side, as his master Trent guided him towards the brutal murder of his own family. And rather than elucidating this history through fragmented exposition across dozens of episodes, The Mighty Nein chose to visually contrast it against the interrogation and execution of his former accomplice, a choice that embodied this adaptation’s willingness to make big structural changes in order to best utilize its new medium’s strengths. That episode was likely the strongest adaptive sequence of Critical Role altogether, and leaves me all the more excited about how this production will continue to improve this group’s best pre-Brennan campaign. Let’s get to it!

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Fall 2026 – Week 5 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’m currently writing this on election day as the votes are being tallied, an occasion that could signal either the ebbing of the MAGA tide or the end of the United States as we know it. I have hope, though; American voters are for the most part simple, tribalistic creatures only vaguely aware of external stimuli, but the one-two punch of pointless tariffs and pointless wars has inflicted enough economic own-goals on our country that I think they may actually correlate causes and effects for once. That nightmare aside, I also finished up the altogether slight but generally charming Sparks of Tomorrow, and am thus once again on the hunt for outstanding 2026 anime to accompany my slow savoring of Scenes from Awajima. It’ll be time to actually get cracking on my year in review post soon, but in the meantime, let’s run down the week in films!

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Journal with Witch – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re diving right back into the thorny stuff of life, as we explore feeling disconnected from the “correct” way to grieve, coming to terms with your failure to fulfill society’s expectations, and the eternal task of sculpting your personality so as to best cohabitate with the people you love, while still holding true to whatever dearly-held prickliness defines your own sense of self. That’s right, it’s time for Journal with Witch, as Asa and Makio navigate the endless struggles of everyday existence.

Our last episode offered a diverse array of challenges for this odd couple, as the pair attempted to bond over Asa’s love of music, demonstrated very different relationships with Makio’s own mother, and were unexpectedly visited by a caseworker concerned about Asa’s inheritance. Music has a tendency to serve as an emotional time capsule, drawing us back to charged moments associated with familiar melodies; for Asa, this meant revisiting both the night of that terrible crash, and also the times when her mother actively supported her own musical ambitions. This tends to be how it goes with such things; Asa is simply learning earlier than most that we must take the good with the bad, that each treasured memory casts a painful shadow, and that preserving our loved ones in memory is how we seek to both honor and retain them. And if old memories can lead to new beginnings, all the better – thus we ended on a moment of genuine familial joy, with Asa now capable of sharing her passion with her adopted family. Let’s see where this rambling road leads as we return to Journal with Witch!

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Big Windup! – Episode 26

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the field for a fresh episode of Big Windup!, in the wake of Nishiura’s upset victory against their top-seeded Tosei opponents. Hard-fought wins over ostensibly superior opponents are of course shonen and sports drama’s stock in trade, but rarely has the process of achieving that win been illustrated with such thought and precision, with practically every aspect of the field, players, and emergent competitive dynamics ultimately contributing to their desperate yet wholly believable triumph.

In the wake of that game, Big Windup! has been eagerly reminding us that it is far more than a tactical simulator, and that its core strength still rests in its ability to thoughtfully illustrate the psychological interplay of its young leads. With Mihashi still incapable of fully believing in his own worth, it came down to his teammates to stop on by, eat all his leftovers, and reassure him that he is a valued member of the Nishiura lineup. Even our persnickety Abe showed some welcome development, helped along by a team that have at this point learned when to step in and vouch for their admittedly frustrating pitcher. Izumi’s reflection that “we’re not especially nice people” might well sum up this production’s strength; characters here are neither good or bad, but they are extremely human, demonstrating compassion, irritation, and all the other contradictory feelings that make up any one identity. With the wind now at their backs, let’s see how they march towards the next stage of the summer tournament!

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Umamusume: Pretty Derby S2 – Episode 4

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re heading down to the racecourse, as we return to the injury-fraught drama of Umamusume’s second season. Having first been introduced to the triumphant Tokai Teio at the peak of her rookie season glory, we watched as she was struck low by a fractured ankle, and forced to sit out the conclusion of her original dream. But having diligently trained her body back into fighting form, she now stands ready for a comeback tour, following on the heels of her triumphant rival McQueen.

In spite of its inherently fanciful concept, the show’s mostly been sticking to sturdy sports drama fundamentals so far, digging into the daily grind of training your body, and marinating in the disappointment of being forced to reassess your professional ambitions. It’s also done a fair job of honing Umamusume’s sprawling roster into a parsable cast, emphasizing a rivalry between teams Spica and Canopus that facilitates both comic digressions and incidental personal narratives. Adapting Umamusume into an ensemble drama basically necessitates grappling with the fact that most athletes won’t achieve the glory they’ve imagined, so I’ll be interested to see how our leads continue to find solace and motivation as they seek that distant crown. Let’s get to it!

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Fall 2026 – Week 4 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week has seen me juggling multiple productions in my race through the year’s outstanding anime, with my apartment diligently munching through both A Hundred Scenes of Awajima and Sparks of Tomorrow. The first has proven an absolutely staggering experience, pairing one of Madhouse’s greatest directors with one of the most wide-ranging and emotionally acute stories of recent years. From its tender illustration of the lies we tell each other to its stark, generation-hopping dramatic scope, Awajima is proving a poignant and insightful drama on all fronts. Meanwhile, in spite of its high-concept premise, Sparks of Tomorrow is falling more in that comic fantasy KyoAni mode of shows like Beyond the Boundary or Phantom World; it’s less ambitious or intelligent than I’d like, but remains visually compelling and generally watchable. I’ll hopefully have both shows tidied up by next week, but for now, let’s run down in the week in film!

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Yuri is My Job! – Volume 9

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The further one journeys into the multifaceted drama of Yuri is My Job!, the more one comes to realize how variably appropriate that particular title is. Initially, I assumed it was mostly a playful sendup of the show’s two contrasting levels of social performance – how the personas put on at Cafe Liebe served as filters for more honest feelings, preceding an eventual reconciliation of those two identities into a unified, happier self. But in truth, the story’s progression has been closer to the opposite; spending more time with these characters has only clarified how distinct their real feelings are from the performances at Liebe, whether it’s the contrast of Mitsuki’s precisely performed on-stage actions and raw, clumsily expressed true feelings, or the clear polar opposition of Hime’s bashful, adoring public performance with her confident yet entirely platonic personal feelings.

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CITY the Animation – Episode 11

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m feeling altogether on top of my various professional responsibilities, and thus feel I’ve earned some sunny urban shenanigans. That’s right, it’s time for another episode of CITY The Animation, as Nagumo and her eccentric neighbors do their best to navigate adolescence, adulthood, and that awkward bridge in between. Our journeys may be wandering and our destinations uncertain, but as that irrepressible OP says, I’m sure we’ll all meet again eventually, laughing and smiling just like this.

Our last episode certainly offered plenty of reason for laughter, united under the thematic banner of “experiencing an idyllic summer vacation.” For our older trio, this involved a carefree trip to the beach ending in tsunami-strength meteorological devastation – for Tatewaku Makabe, it meant roaming the globe in pursuit of his beloved Izumi, encountering a variety of dubiously canonical hazards along the way. And all of this served as a sort of meta anti-climax, terminating in the absurd punchline that our local baseball team had not just competed in, but actually won the vaunted summer Koshien. But I suppose the feeling of missing out on a perfect youthful summer is in its own way the essence of youth, and I’m sure CITY will offer more similarly slanted wisdom in the episodes ahead. Let’s see what else this production has to teach us as we return to the streets!

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