Author Archives: Bobduh

Why It Works: The Madness of Hunter x Hunter’s Hero

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Hey everyone! For this week’s Why It Works, I dove back into Hunter x Hunter, that seemingly infinite well of potential storytelling topics. This time, I explored the unique ways the show characterizes its protagonist, and how it manipulates our expectations regarding its genre to essentially conceal Gon’s most frightening qualities. I’ve sorta been going through Hunter x Hunter one arc at a time, highlighting various strengths of the show along the way, and this time I cheated a bit – this is technically the “Greed Island article,” but it’s more about Gon than Greed Island itself. Still, I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it too. Let’s get to it!

The Madness of Hunter x Hunter’s Hero

Wonder Egg Priority – Episode 2

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Hello everyone, and welcome back. Today we’re exploring the second episode of Wonder Egg Priority, 2021’s most intriguing production so far, as Ai Ohto works to save her friend Koito. Of course, it’s questionable whether Koito can truly be “saved” at all; Ai watched her die, and though the mysterious overseer of her current task claims that salvation is possible, we have no reason to trust their words.

But while Ai’s narrative destination is still far from clear, Wonder Egg Priority has been proceeding with absolute confidence so far, making me feel confident in turn about its eventual structure. I’m not a fan of mystery for its own sake, as I feel that generally, mysteries tend to exist apart from what a show is “trying to say,” as a purely narrative hook. On the other hand, when a show’s “mysteries” are baked into the ambiguity of its themes and imagery, I’m a huge fan. Rather than distracting from a show’s thematic and emotional content, mysteries like this actually spur investment into the show’s ideas, while simultaneously aligning the audience with the protagonist’s perspective. This is the grand trick of shows like Madoka or Utena, and I’m delighted to see Wonder Egg Priority pulling it off so well. Without further ado, let’s dive into the second episode!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 36

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IT’S TIME. After braving the forests of Akala in order to take down the island’s Totem Pokemon, Ash has at last earned the right to challenge Olivia, and compete in her Grand Trial. It’s been a solid twenty-five episodes since Ash last fought in a Grand Trial, and since then he’s gained both Iwanko and Nyabby, along with plenty of fighting experience. Sun and Moon never disappoints when it comes to its action setpieces, and given the clear significance of this Grand Trial, I’m expecting some spectacular feats of animation. 

So far Sun and Moon has rarely focused on the tactical interplay of pokemon battles, which makes sense. This isn’t truly an action cartoon, it’s more of an adventure/slice of life production, and thus the stakes of its conflicts tend to focus more on character emotions and personal resolutions than combat supremacy. Characters generally “win” by growing or learning something new – but last episode, Ash’s Totem battle embraced some genuine tactical interplay, leaving me hopeful that this fight will also supplement its visual flare with some crunchy tactics. Either way we’re in for a visual feast, so let’s not waste any more time, and charge forward to the Grand Trial!

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Maquia and the Beauty of Parting

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Tucked away in a remote village, the Iorph tend to their cloth. Known as the “Clan of Partings,” they are creatures of an older world, and live long, long lives compared to the humans that surround them. But the cloth lives longer still – referred to as the “Hibiol,” it is woven with the stories of its people, the trials and triumphs of our lives recorded in shimmering fabric. It can be a lonely existence, hidden away from the world, and the young Maquia feels isolated by her duties. But as her teacher tells her, even if we feel alone, our precious memories exist within the cloth, along with all the people we’ve loved. “They cry with us,” her teacher says, wiping away her student’s tears. This is why the Iorph must protect the Hibiol – through doing so, they protect the past, and ensure their stories endure.

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Winter 2021 – Week 4 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’m happy to report that I didn’t just blindly munch through a bunch of horror movies again this week, and instead got to some acclaimed, ambitious films that I’d been putting off purely because they’re too damn long. I’ve been meaning to see The Irishman since it came out, and one of my housemates has been clamoring about watching Heat for months, so in the end we set aside last Sunday as our dedicated “long damn movie” marathon. Only in retrospect did we realize what we were actually watching – an exploration of Robert De Niro versus Al Pacino, in roles separated by over two decades. There’ll be other attractions to get to as well, but for now, let’s break down these two excellent films!

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Why It Works: The Quiet Lessons of Laid-Back Camp

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Laid-Back Camp is friggin’ back, meaning I can once more wax rhapsodic regarding the meditative, life-affirming qualities of the best slice of life anime. That basically covers this article, which digs into the ways Laid-Back Camp’s methodical approach to camping, as well as its general framing of the outside world, essentially works as a form of mindfulness training. Let’s get to it!

The Quiet Lessons of Laid-Back Camp

Jobless Reincarnation – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be checking out… wait, seriously? An isekai? Don’t you folks know how I feel about those? Well, a job’s a job, so I guess today we’re checking out the industry’s latest isekai production: Jobless Reincarnation.

I don’t know anything about Jobless Reincarnation in particular, but I do know that I am flat-out exhausted by the isekai genre, and basically every one of its assumed qualities. There is definitely a strong potential isekai within the template as we know it – a show that genuinely reflects on the alienation of modern society, and interrogates the self-defeating ugliness of using fanatical fandom as an escape from reality. But even the shows that ostensibly do this, like Re:Zero, are still drenched in obnoxious otaku-isms, and simply not written well enough to keep my attention.

Characters in isekai shows speak in fan-aimed cliches, not like human beings, and the worlds they interact with are playpens filled with otaku ephemera, not convincingly realized alternative worlds. They are a warm hug aimed at a very specific set of consumers, which lack either the maturity of perspective or beauty of narrative craft to offer anything to a general audience of art-likers. As someone who has read a lot of actual adult-aimed novels, light novel storytelling is almost never going to impress me; particularly in this field, where novels are frequently written by amateur authors who are taking influence from other amateur authors, and being guided by editors whose notes presumably run the range from “needs more harem archetypes” to “mention her boobs more.” It’s the blind leading the blind while a third guy actively guides them off a cliff, and while the results of this process are understandable, they’re not generally consumable.

So that’s my opinion of isekai anime: a genre with theoretical potential, but no shows I could recommend to art enthusiasts, constructed under economic conditions that may well preclude the creation of any genuinely interesting art. Let’s see what I think of this one!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 35

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! This is my first episodic article written after winter break, so I’m planning on easing back into the rhythm of work with some lighthearted Sun and Moon. When last we left off, Kaki had joined Lana in ascending to a new power level, having rescued his home island’s ceremonial crown, and even scoring himself a powerful Marowak in the bargain. With two of Ash’s companions having essentially conducted their mid-journey evolutions, I’m guessing it’s now time for Mallow or Sophocles to earn a similar boost – or else we could just frolic on Akala for a while, and maybe check out the local beaches. Look, when you format your anime as a perpetual vacation, you end up with a lot of options for showing the audience a good time. Let’s not waste a moment then, and see what awaits us back in Alola!

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Kaguya-sama: Love is War – Episode 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. You all ready for some Kaguya-sama? I’m frankly not sure I am; after all, we’re four episodes in at this point, and the most the show’s gotten out of me is a light chuckle. I don’t find its comedy particularly funny, and its characterization hasn’t really moved much beyond the initial dynamic, meaning I can’t coast on my fondness for the leads as people. At the moment, I’m more or less clinging to the visual flair contributed by Shinichi Omata’s direction, as well as the potential for an interrogation of how class affects social dynamics that I damn well know the show almost certainly won’t explore.

I feel like I’ve conveyed all this with as much tact as possible over the past four writeups, but it seems like you folks are still enjoying them, as Kaguya-sama’s funding is as healthy as can be. In light of that, I figure people likely won’t mind if I’m a bit less diplomatic in my appraisal, as presumably you must know “gag comedy with no character or thematic focus” falls deeply outside my general interests. Is there truly something waiting down the road that makes this a “me” show, or are you folks just sending me on a long walk down a short pier? Either way, we’ve got a fresh episode ahead of us, so let’s see if my fortunes can turn!

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Winter 2021 – Week 3 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. The winter anime season is in full swing at this point, and surprisingly enough, I’m actually watching some currently airing anime. Laid-Back Camp is as charming as ever, and Horimiya is readily demonstrating Masashi Ishihama’s talents – but ultimately, Wonder Egg Priority is in a league of its own. The show’s first episode was so gracefully composed, creative, and beautiful that it essentially demanded my attention, evoking those same “shut up and sit down, you’re watching a masterpiece” shivers I got from the premieres of Madoka, or The Eccentric Family, or Flip Flappers. I’ve got a notes article out on that episode already, and am hoping to continue writing on it through the season – but in the meantime, yes, I did indeed also watch a bunch of random movies this week. Without further ado, let’s break ‘em all down in the Week in Review!

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