Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’ve got a very old-fashioned Week in Review for you today, as this week, I basically watched nothing but anime. Not airing anime, of course – that’d be too simple, and too likely to actually promote my brand among the recency-addicted anime fandom. Instead, I flew through one of the highlights of last season, SK8 the Infinity, along with a classic anime film and the requisite double-helping of One Piece. This is turning out to be an exceptional year in anime so far; I’ve been thoroughly impressed by Wonder Egg, ODDTAXI, and SK8, and I still need to follow up on shows like To Your Eternity and Megalobox: Nomad. I’ll get to those soon enough, but for now, let’s barrel through some fresh cartoon highlights in the Week in Review!
Author Archives: Bobduh
Dorohedoro – Episode 12
Oh god, how can this season already be over? I feel like I’ve just gotten settled into the world of Caiman, En, and their various compatriots, and now the party’s about to end!? C’mon, at least let me stick around for one more feast, or festival, or something! Obviously this is the fate of all adaptations of continuing manga, but Dorohedoro has established its local schedule as so packed with festivities that I already feel like I’m missing out. Damn you Dorohedoro, how dare you be so entertaining.
Anyway, yes, we’ve arrived. It’s clear we’re still in the early phases of Dorohedoro’s overall narrative; En’s motivation has only just been revealed, and Caiman’s quest isn’t even close to a resolution. But this does at least feel like a reasonable resting point, as the tension of Nikaido’s sorceress nature has also served as one of Dorohedoro’s slow-burning narrative fuses, and it seems like it’s about to blow. Nikaido cares about Caiman, and at this moment, I could see that concern leading her to wound him deeply, in order to ensure he doesn’t return to the world of the sorcerers. But whatever happens, the one thing I’m certain of is that after this, I’m picking up the goddamn manga. Without further ado, let’s finish off the endearing, intriguing, and vividly realized Dorohedoro!
Bodacious Space Pirates – Episode 12
You folks ready to explore a ghost ship? Having outwitted Serenity’s forces and survived a goddamn rip in space itself, the Bentenmaru and her crew have at last arrived on the golden ghost ship, and are preparing to disembark. As we recently learned, the ghost ship is in fact a generation ship, housing countless bodies that may yet be held in cold sleep, just waiting to be revived. Of course, that reveal only prompts a handful of further questions, like why exactly all these residents of Serenity agreed to this voyage, or why the true nature of this ship has been so successfully obscured. Even Gruier has yet to reveal her motives here, though it’s not hard to imagine how the sudden reappearance of millions of Serenity citizens might impact the nation’s succession conflict. With the answers presumably lurking within the bowels of this mighty ship, let’s not waste any more time, and step onboard the golden ghost ship of Serenity!
ODDTAXI – Episode 3
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the site. Today I am both eager and nervous to return to ODDTAXI, a show which has so far proven itself to be exceptional beyond any reasonable expectation, and elevated by some of the best dialogue in recent memory. It’s such a smart, deftly executed show that it’s frankly a little intimidating, but that’s a feeling to be embraced – within art, it is the works that genuinely surprise you which expand your horizons, and broaden your understanding of what art can be.
So far, I’ve been learning that art can be Kemono Friends and Twin Peaks at the same time, and also that the two might not have possessed that much separation in the first place. ODDTAXI’s disarming character designs are doing their best to keep things light, but there is darkness seeping in through every seam of this narrative, be it the conventional malaise of adult disappointment, or the sharp prick of a gun in your back. Odokawa has largely remained on the periphery of this narrative’s central mystery, but with the presumed killer in his backseat and Shirakawa awaiting his return, he may end up involved in spite of himself. Whatever comes, I’m sure it’ll be executed with the same confidence of storytelling, maturity of perspective, and distinctiveness of voice that all make this show special. Let’s return to ODDTAXI!
Spring 2021 – Week 10 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. It was a productive week over at my house, as we marched through a sequence of acclaimed films, and also powered all the way through One Piece’s first post-time skip arc. The Straw Hats have been attempting to reach Fishman Island for over two hundred goddamn episodes now, having first set sail for it at the end of Enies’ Lobby before being interrupted by Thriller Bark, scattered at Sabaody, and eventually implicated in a little light treason. I can’t imagine what that wait felt like at a weekly episodic pace, but given the island’s ultimate complexity, I could believe Oda’s been slowly drafting its story for that entire span. We’re gonna go deep on that arc at the end of this article, but let’s start off with some lighter attractions, as we explore some high quality cinema. Without further ado, it’s the goddamn Week in Review.
Why It Works: The Beauty and Excitement of Exploring New Art
I’ve got a big Why It Works piece this week, all about the benefits of expanding your artistic horizons. I feel like people often see this process as something like homework, so I tried to focus on both the satisfaction and the immediate benefits of branching out, rather than framing it as any kind of obligation. Bringing great but lesser-known works into the light is one of a critic’s highest callings, so I hope I did right by my duties this time, and also that you all enjoy the piece!
The Beauty and Excitement of Exploring New Art
Symphogear XV – Episode 2
Hello all, and welcome the fuck back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re continuing to barrel through Symphogear, as you can’t really stop a season of this show once you’ve started it. I knew this to be true, and thus scheduled myself some space between the fourth and fifth seasons, but the time for recuperation is clearly over – now is the time of Burning Hearts, Fighting Spirits, and Blowing Up The Goddamn Moon.
So far, Symphogear’s fifth season has proceeded in a much similar way to its predecessors: there’s some supernatural menace, the wielders kick its butt, and then we learn that menace was just an appetizer for the true threat. This time, that threat will presumably be the “custodians” that Adam warned about, though it also seems we’ve still got a crew of alchemists running around, who will presumably first clash with and ultimately be befriended by the indomitable Hibiki. One funny consequence of this being Symphogear’s final season is that the show no longer has to worry about cast bloat – there’s no need to find roles for any new cast members in future seasons, so Hibiki is free to befriend as many foes as she wants. That’s sure to come, but for now, I’m mostly just hyped to see another beautifully choreographed and ludicrously well-animated transformation sequence. Let’s not waste a moment longer, and get right into the Symphogear!
Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 43
Hello all, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am thrilled to dive into a Sun and Moon episode that I’ve been assured is a scorcher, featuring an actual gym battle with Ash’s old companion Misty. Sun and Moon has been relatively light on gym battles as a whole, which has suited its slice of life style nicely – but when they do appear, the production holds nothing back, and dazzles with action animation that any show would be proud to call its own.
As for this episode in particular, the credits couldn’t possibly be more stacked. The animation director is Satoshi Nakano, one of Sun and Moon’s actual character designers, and the series’ chief animation director, who along with this episode only handled key animations on the OPs, as well as Sun and Moon’s final episode. Normally, Nakano is reserved for animation direction on actual Pokemon movies – something he shares in common with this episode’s overall director, Masakatsu Ijima. This is one of only three episodes where Ijima handled not just the storyboard, but directorial duties as well, so we can be certain this episode will possess a holism of art design and fluidity of animation that’s the rival of anything in the series. We’re in for riches I can’t even begin to imagine, so let’s not waste a moment more, and get back to Sun and Moon!
Big Windup! – Episode 3
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the site. Today I’m eager to return to Big Windup!, whose last episode ended with Abe at last agreeing to try Momoe’s practice methods. Is Abe actually capable of the humility necessary for genuine teamwork, or will this just reaffirm his belief that all his teammates are idiots?
Abe and Momoe have made for an interesting contrast over Windup!’s first two episodes. Rather than attempting to genuinely connect with his teammates as human beings, and cultivate their skills into well-rounded baseball players, Abe has essentially been trying to fool his players into winning in spite of themselves. He’s not bothered by the fact that Mihashi is skittish and unbalanced; those qualities make him easier to manipulate, so Abe considers them a plus. In contrast, Momoe wants her team to be well-rounded, confident, and resilient, with each player carrying their own weight, and knowing they can trust their teammates to support them. The two butted heads over Windup!’s first two episodes, but it’s already become clear that Mihashi is dedicated to genuinely improving, and that Abe is losing his grip on his pitcher. With Momoe having assigned Abe the task of actually speaking honestly with Mihashi, let’s see how our battery fare in episode three!
Spring 2021 – Week 9 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. Having largely munched through the Ghibli catalog at this point, this week my house wandered through a different animation legacy, as we checked out the first and last feature films of a certain Don Bluth. Many of Bluth’s films have a profound nostalgic pull for me; his weird, frequently dark films resonated with me more strongly than Disney’s offerings, and thus I still have fond memories of The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and even A Troll in Central Park. This week I at last checked out his masterful Secret of NIMH, along with the unfortunate Titan A.E., as well as a host of other films and shows. We’ve got plenty to get through, so let’s dive right into the Week in Review!