The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking back in on The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, last year’s gentle romance about two would-be lovers from different sides of the tracks. The show’s premiere did a fine job of introducing us to protagonist Rintaro Tsumugi, who suffers from a history of consistent rejection and a resultant sense of disconnect in his current life. Hoping to avoid a repeat of his youthful trauma, Rintaro now studiously maintains an emotional distance from his classmates, and refuses to reveal his home situation to even his closest friends.

Into this buttoned-up world has stumbled Kaoruko Waguri, a diminutive attendee of the esteemed Kikyo Girls’ Academy. Pursuing both cakes and Rintaro with unqualified gusto, Kaoruko has already proven herself an excellent foil for Rintaro, balancing his “big timid guy” energy with lots of “tiny proactive girl” counterpoints. The two are quite charming together, and this production’s detail-rich designs and energetic character acting are realizing their courtship in fine style. Let’s get back to it!

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Winter 2026 – Week 11 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. We’ve been keeping busy this week, as we continued to munch through Aura Battler Dunbine, and also screened the entirety of the live-action One Piece’s second season. I think we’re all a little understandably hesitant about live-action anime adaptations, but god damnit, they’ve actually nailed this one. The tone, the energy, the costumes, the characters; this feels less like a pale imitation than a loving revision, drawing on thirty years of One Piece history to make a concise, cohesive version of the story that still hits and often even expands on the pleasures of the original. The casting remains superb, the Straw Hats have largely settled into their personalities, and the emotional gut-punches of the early Grand Line have been preserved in full. I’m frankly astonished by the production’s combination of trust in its base material and willingness to boldly reorganize; this is a real “whoa, two cakes” situation, and I am savoring the flavor.

One Piece aside, we of course munched through our usual assortment of cinematic spectacles. So let’s get right on that, as we run down the latest Week in Review!

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Chainsaw Man – Volume 8

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re continuing our journey through the blood-soaked Chainsaw Man, as Denji and his public safety companions continue to fend off an army of international assassins. Well, “fend off” might be too strong a phrase for their current situation; perhaps “contend with” is better, considering those assassins have already broken through the gates. Driven by the promise of human rights for her family of fiends, the elite killer Quanxi has pierced through Japan’s defenses, and rejected Kishibe’s offer of challenging Makima at his side.

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Apocalypse Hotel – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re taking a trip downtown to the Gingarou Hotel, where I’m told the accommodations are lavish and the shampoo hats are in abundant supply. Yep, it’s time for a fresh episode of Apocalypse Hotel, wherein we will rage at the dying of the light by providing top-notch service for our theoretical clientele.

Apocalypse Hotel’s first episode did a fine job of balancing its unique combination of fatalism and whimsy, echoing the post-apocalyptic embers of shows like Girls’ Last Tour and Kemurikusa. As our own world lurches towards climate disaster, global conflict, or worse, it is oddly reassuring to imagine how life will continue beyond us, and what strange creatures might find comfort in the bones of our once-proud society. You might think post-apocalyptic media nihilistic, but I tend to find it the opposite; stripped of the artifice of civilization, such stories often zero in on precisely what makes us human, the dignity, compassion, and determination that can survive even in the harshest of climates. Let’s see how our staff put their best feet forward today!

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Journal With Witch – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out a brand-spanking new production, as we explore what sources tell me is the first essential series of 2026. Its premise alone certainly sets it apart; based on a manga by Tomoko Yamashita, Journal with Witch catalogues the relationship of antisocial novelist Makio Kōdai and her fifteen-year-old niece Asa Takumi, who Makio takes in after the death of Asa’s parents. So yeah, a down-to-earth narrative about ordinary people attempting to navigate grief, socializing, and the idiosyncrasies of everyday life? Sign me the fuck up!

Beyond its refreshingly grounded concept, I’ve also been hearing excellent things about this adaptation’s take on the material. Director Miyuki Oshiro appears to have a balanced background in both animation and boarding, with significant experience in particular on Natsume’s Book of Friends, which seems just the right sort of education for a reserved, intimately human narrative. Meanwhile, series composer/scriptwriter Kohei Kiyasu apparently composed the entirety of Run with the Wind, an overlooked yet utterly fantastic 2019 sports drama. It seems we might have something truly special here, so let’s not waste any more time bloviating, and get right to the story!

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Winter 2026 – Week 10 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week has seen my house complete another long-term viewing project, as we screened the last episode of Cloudward Ho!, the most recent adventure of Dimension 20’s main cast. This frankly leaves us in a somewhat worrying situation, as a major pillar of our broadcast schedule has now been fully consumed, but we at least still have Aura Battler Dunbine to console us. Tomino’s isekai adventure has been an expected delight so far, offering plentiful dramatic twists and brutal Tominoisms while also scratching my irrepressible high fantasy itch. And with our schedule relatively free, I’ve actually been considering a Katanagatari rewatch; it’s been too long since I spent time with my favorite sword and tactician, and have been meaning to introduce my housemates to the series anyway. In the meantime, the film screenings have continued as per usual, so let’s get this show on the road and break down some movies!

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Yuri is My Job! – Volume 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to the adventures of Hime and her compatriots at Cafe Liebe, as we bound beyond the confines of Yuri is My Job!’s anime adaptation, and onward to the trials of the Miman-penned ongoing manga.

It’s certainly a pleasure to be back – after all, the original premise of this work is inherently fascinating to me, digging directly into the complex relationship between the genres we love, the characters we idolize, and the ways we formulate our own identities. From the parasocial complications of performing selves for an assumed audience, to the inherent commonalities between stage performance, adolescent identity-forming, and the nuances of crafting a public façade that feels both amenable to others and authentic to one’s own feelings, this story has been digging into core questions of both authentic self-expression and finding yourself through art, topics that could not be any closer to my own heart.

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BanG Dream! Ave Mujica – Episode 11

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to announce we’re diving back into the musical mayhem that is BanG Dream! Ave Mujica, as our girls continue to poke each other with sharp sticks in the hopes of either dying or making a very important point. Our last episode saw Ave Mujica reunited at last, and actually seeming to reach a healthier point of collaboration both in their personal and professional relations. Of course we can’t have that, so our post-credits stinger came through with a fresh point of conflict, potentially floating Uika and Sakiko as long-lost sisters or whatnot.

We’ll deal with that salvo of soap opera silliness when we get to it, but for now, I have to admit I’m impressed with how well episode ten brought these character journeys together. It has at times been difficult to see why any of these characters would want to collaborate on anything, but that performance saw them all reaching towards a collective goal for their own coherent reasons – Sakiko to repair the damage she’s done, Mortis and Mutsumi-chan to declare their collective right to exist, Umiri to embrace sincere dedication to her craft and group, Nyamu to transcend her superficial divahood by chasing Mutsumi’s ascent, and Uika to stay by Sakiko’s side, whatever it takes. That resounding, defiant chorus of “still alive,” relevant to each of them in their own ways, binding them to the declaration of resilience that Ave Mujica has always been.

Everyone except Uika is in a far healthier place than they were several episodes ago, so I suppose it’s only right that it falls to her to burn everything down. Let’s see what torment awaits as we return to Ave Mujica!

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Big Windup! – Episode 21

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the bitter battlefield of high school baseball, as Abe, Mihashi, and all of their Nishiura compatriots seek to topple the first-seeded Tosei team. After some fortuitous early innings that saw Nishiura pulling away by two runs, Tosei rallied back in force, gaining two runs in quick succession, and then a third when Mihashi stumbled in the rain. With two innings to go, opportunities are swiftly dwindling for Nishiura to somehow topple Goliath.

Of course, that sober articulation of the scoreboard can’t begin to express the frantic battle of wills and talents that has brought us this far. Nishiura has scrambled for every possible inch of advantage in this matchup, exploiting a wealth of pre-game pitching data, effectively manipulating the Mihashi surprise factor, leaning on Tajima’s remarkable eyesight, and ultimately even exploiting the temperamental heavens’ looming stormclouds. And though their efforts have required the dedicated support of every team member, at this point it seems to all point to one question – does Mihashi have the strength to finish this game?

After practically collapsing in exhaustion multiple times so far, he seems to have gained one last boost of energy from the knowledge that his old teammate Kanou is pushing through to the next round. Big Windup! has consistently emphasized how baseball is in large part a mental game, but when your body is actively failing, can your mind really carry you to victory? Let’s find out!

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Winter 2026 – Week 9 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re striding forth boldly into March, though sadly, here in New England that still means it’s the middle of winter. Though I seem to recall the existence of spring and fall from my childhood, lately it’s felt like there’s only two seasons around here: the blessed summer of May through October, and the hateful winter of November through April. Fortunately, we’ve still got plenty of stories to tide us through the cold, and I’m personally excited to be cracking the seal on a whole slate of new features. Having finished Fallout, Moribito, and the delightfully soapy Sandokan, we’re now returning to the Tomino well with Aura Battler Dunbine, while also looking forward to the upcoming second season of One Piece’s live-action adaptation. I’m frankly eager to get back to Dunbine right this minute, but first, let’s run down the week in film!

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