BanG Dream! Ave Mujica – Episode 13

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the curtain rises on the final performance of Ave Mujica, a band defined by mental illnesses so powerful they may well topple the titanic Togawa Group. After twelve episodes of wailing and collapsing and scratching at each other with passionate, loving fury, our girls have more or less coalesced, reuniting via an admittedly abridged resolution of Uika and Sakiko’s drama. Now the group stands united, ready to entrance all of Japan with the nightmare visions of their extremely chuuni rock band.

It has admittedly been a rougher ride to get here than for MyGO. Alright, I won’t sugarcoat it: Ave Mujica has been kind of a mess, more interested in audacious spectacle than human inquiry, and its characters have resultantly failed to rise beyond melodramatic caricatures. But given the contrast between MyGO’s confessional slam poetry and Ave Mujica’s ornate theater, I can’t say it’s terribly surprising the show has embraced such tonal excess off-stage as well.

I certainly wish characters like Uika and Umiri were handled better, but I can also more fundamentally admit that Ave Mujica is simply less my sort of thing that MyGO; I like stories about people, and Ave Mujica is more about a grandiose, indulgently self-destructive vibe than offering convincing character studies. Nonetheless, it’s been an entertaining and often shocking ride here, and I do love Nyamu dearly, largely sharing her “so this is how rich girls entertain themselves” view of her bandmates. With the chandeliers lit and blood generously pooling, let’s enjoy one last moonlit sacrament!

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Journal With Witch – Episode 3

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to announce I’m feeling pretty darn emotionally stable, which puts me in fine shape to survive an episode of Journal With Witch. The show has so far done a commendable job of psychologically demolishing me with both of its first two episodes, digging into the intersection of grief, self-realization, and creative expression with nuance and acuity. Makio is one of the most sharply drawn characters I’ve seen in years, and through her awkward navigation of adulthood, parenting, and professional writing, Journal With Witch is constructing a human portrait as raw and incisive as its titular journal.

Our last episode saw Makio consulting with allies regarding the Asa question, conferring with first her close friend Nana Daigo, and then her ex-boyfriend Shingo. Unfortunately, as is often the case in such matters, they mostly just served to affirm things she already knew: that she couldn’t put off managing her sister’s personal effects, that her life would be changing rapidly now, and that in spite of it all, she would still remain her standoffish, singular self. Personal growth is both a practice and an inevitability; sometimes pledges turn to practices and then to habits through conscious effort, and sometimes we look up and have to blink at the figure in the mirror, uncertain how we assumed some strange new shape. Regardless, the fundamentals of the isolated creative life remain constant – we dig deep within and excavate our embarrassments, throwing them onto the page in hope of connection, simultaneously praying and fearing to be truly known. Perhaps next time, that hot stovetop might offer the validation we need, the certainty that we haven’t wasted our life in letters. Perhaps not, but what else is there?

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Spring 2026 – Week 12 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I finished my run-through of Final Fantasy VIII this week, offering welcome closure to a lingering adolescent quest, in spite of the game’s third act being exceedingly underdeveloped. I suppose it’s a credit to the game’s character writing that I felt annoyed by how swiftly everything wraps up; this is definitely one of the best overall parties within the Final Fantasy lineage, and I’ll absolutely miss them. With that concluded, I’ve also been continuing a Blue Lions run of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which has led me to the amusing revelation that there’s no real justification for house leader Dimitri’s behavior, he’s just Like That. Sorta figured his route would offer similar revelations of intent to Black Eagles and Golden Deer, but nope, Dimitri’s just some kind of feral, vengeance-driven creature. I’ll hopefully be wrapping that adventure up shortly, but in the meantime, let’s run down the week in films!

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Eureka Seven – Episode 19

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am pleased as punch to announce we are at last returning to Eureka Seven, after far too long a leave of absence from Renton and the Gekkostate crew. There’s really nothing like that particular era of ambitious ‘00s originals, and believe me, I’ve looked. Not to say that the era I grew up with was the best era of anime production – that’s just nostalgia talking, obviously. But every shift in the medium’s output offers its own pleasures, and I am exceedingly fond of these sweeping, go-for-broke combinations of insular personal narratives and globe-trotting fantasy, particularly when Dai Sato or Igarashi and Enokido are involved.

When last we left off, Renton had received a melancholy reminder of home in the form of the old miner Brittany, who remained convinced that just two more meters of digging would strike the motherload that would revive his town. Seeing his own grandfather in this man’s struggles, Renton was happy to make himself useful, until Brittany’s obsession eventually put the whole Gekkostate crew in danger. Thus this brief flash of nostalgia only served to remind him how far from home he was, and how disconnected he remains from the strange, violent world he now occupies.

Renton’s conflict embodies the synergy of Eureka Seven’s surfer crew/revolutionary dichotomy, with Renton essentially experiencing the same disillusionment as a young reporter following a spiraling rock group, or a boy who abandons his home to join the circus. The Gekkostate crew are not here to provide him with a purpose; they are mired in their own troubles, barely getting by, and far from the ideal mentors for a boy seeking to find himself. But no one ever matures under ideal circumstances, and now that the glow of chasing his dream has dimmed, Renton might at last begin the unglamorous process of learning to live with both his triumphs and his regrets. Let’s return to the skies!

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Big Windup! – Episode 23

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the field at the top of the ninth, after an eighth inning that saw both Nishiura and Tosei securing one more run. Unfortunately for Nishiura, this means they’re once again behind their first-seeded opponents, with only a single inning left to first tie and then surpass their opponents. What’s worse, Tosei’s pitcher Takase has clearly shrugged off his early-innings slump, making it all the harder for our boys to run those bases. It seems all hopes rest on Nishiura’s cleanup hitter Tajima – but with Takase at full capacity, will Nishiura survive long enough to let him swing?

Yep, it’s time for more friggin’ Big Windup!, as we return to Nishiura’s absolute nailbiter of a first summer tournament game. Having earned the misfortune of facing off against the first-seeded Tosei players, Abe and his teammates have employed every possible trick to gain an inch of advantage, and at this point might understand the quirks of Takase’s pitching better than he himself does. To win in baseball requires a combination of hard-trained athleticism, ingrained coordination, opponent-specific preparation, in-game analysis, and luck; throughout this match, all of those factors have risen and woven together, demonstrating the exhilarating heights of mechanically grounded drama. Fight on, Nishiura!

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Umamusume: Pretty Derby S2 – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’ve got a somewhat unorthodox piece for you all, as we touch down at the beginning of Umamusume: Pretty Derby’s second season. I actually reviewed the first two episodes of the original Umamusume back when they premiered, and apparently had a laundry list of critiques: the slice of life material felt by-the-numbers, the sports side failed to create tension, and the concept was so absurd that I could never achieve the buy-in necessary to engage with it emotionally. However, I have consistently heard that Umamusume’s second season is a vast improvement on the original, and am thus prepared to have another go at its fantastical horse girl world.

From what I hear, this second season apparently tunes down both the slice of life interludes and preposterous “also they’re idols” contrivance, honing in on the franchise’s sports drama fundamentals. That seems like a sturdier foundation than the first season’s mix, so while this is still pretty far outside my usual wheelhouse, I’m gonna do my best to keep an open mind about everyone’s favorite horse girl idol drama gambling app tie-in franchise. Let’s get down to the track!

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Spring 2026 – Week 11 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week has been defined by an extremely nostalgic journey for me, as I’ve been hacking my way through Final Fantasy VIII for the first time since junior high. Though it’s always been overshadowed by the apparently immortal FFVII, I’ve always been fond of FFVIII’s unique aesthetic style and highly personal story, and have been enjoying seeing my fond memories rewarded with a cast of characters that’s just as endearing as I remembered. The whole junction-refining magic system also scratches the Persona fusion center of my brain just right; I can see why many players would prefer a more traditional approach to spellcasting, but I really appreciate how Squaresoft followed up the titanic FFVII with such a bold swing, particularly considering their fearful, self-cannibalizing recent development choices. I actually got stuck somewhere in Ultimecia’s castle as a teenager, so I’ll also be enjoying actually beating the game for the first time sometime next week – but in the meantime, let’s run down the week in films!

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Trigun Stampede – Episode 10

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to check back in on Vash and the gang, as we race towards the climax of Trigun Stampede. Through the winding adventures of Vash and his companions, Stampede has set up something resembling a theological parable, a question of what we owe to each other, the planet, and the quasi-gods above. Million Knives is our old testament arbitrator, eager to wipe the slate clean, and fundamentally contemptuous of humanity’s struggles for survival. In contrast, Vash may well serve as our redeemer, witnessing the sins of generations and yet perpetually struggling to save our frail, fractious species.

In between these two poles, our last episode reintroduced Zazie as an avatar of the planet itself, a collective organism potentially incompatible with humanity’s rapacious hunger. Mankind’s better instincts will always face an uphill battle; it is far easier to destroy than it is to rebuild, and as this journey has shown, desperation can drive even the best of us to tribalism and hatred. But so long as one soul remains committed to a brighter, kinder future, I imagine Vash will stand alongside them, still loyal to the compassion his precious guardians have taught him. If we can help raise a being as fundamentally decent as Vash, perhaps we might be worth saving after all. Let’s find out!

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CITY the Animation – Episode 8

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to take another stroll downtown, and see what new fever dreams are cooking among the preposterous inhabitants of CITY the Animation. The show has recently been hard at work demonstrating that continuity need not imply coherency, as Mr. Makabe’s adventures with dining out have risen to new heights of lunacy, and Niikura has proven herself some kind of midnight food demon (no doubt at the insistence of her six or seven shoulder devils).

So basically business as usual for these wacky characters, alongside those steady apportionings of genuine mutual support and comfort that provide such a winning foundation for their variable antics. Life is a funny thing, full of moments of glory or sorrow that seem almost willfully disorienting in their senseless distribution. Through its various vignettes, CITY captures the absurdity of life with humor and compassion, providing an exaggerated yet still recognizable portrait of the unexpected trials and triumphs of the everyday. We’re all in this nonsense together, so let’s do our best to make our collective journey a pleasant one!

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Birdie Wing – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to announce we’re embarking on a fresh new journey, as we explore the action-packed world of high-stakes golf drama. That’s right, it’s time for motherfucking Birdie Wing, which I know by reputation as a proud entry in anime’s distinguished “sports are basically DBZ battles” subgenre. Having greatly enjoyed such delightful genre forebearers as Scorching Ping Pong Girls and Sk8 the Infinity, I am eager to see how this production elevates what is generally agreed to be a sedate, largely retiree-aimed sporting passion.

Apparently our heroine’s origin story is “competes in unlicensed golf challenges to earn money for underprivileged youths,” which is a statement of such simultaneous absurdity and confidence that I’m already hooked. Our director Takayuki Inagaki is a seasoned veteran, having done key work on productions ranging from Desert Punk to School Rumble to Chio’s School Road, meaning he definitely has the comedy chops for this sort of thing. Meanwhile, screenwriter/series composer Yōsuke Kuroda seems even more appropriate for the project, having proven both his sports and melodrama cred through works like Big Windup!, BASTARD!!, and Gundam Build Fighters. All signs point towards an exceptionally executed slice of birdie-seeking absurdity, so let’s get right to the action of Birdie Wing!

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